Serial Number

Model

Registration

Date of Manufacturing

ATC

Price (USD)

Engine

Propeller

Current Status

History

The airplane was used for student training at the Ryan School until sold on September 15th, 1937 to Walter Dillingham. It was actually crated and shipped by truck to Los Angeles, then via ship. Before being sold to Dillingham the plane was exhibited at the Pacific Aircraft Show in L.A, in February 1936. It was suspended from the ceiling in a banked position where its glistening all metal fuselage reflected the beams of a battery of spot lights trained on it from each corner of the booth. It must have been spectacular. Another ST, (S/N unknown) with the fabric removed from its wings and tail surfaces was on display just below this one. Claude Ryan and Earl Prudden were in alternate attendance to give assistance when necessary to Ted Kelly of Ryan traffic and Sales in San Diego.

On August 16, 1938 while Mr. Dillingham was flying, and during a slow roll, the engine cut out in the normal manner while in the inverted position, but failed to restart upon return to normal flight. While gliding toward the field the propeller stopped turning so it was impossible to restart the engine before landing.

The only available field was a soft sand dune covered with light underbrush, so that on landing the wheels sank in deep enough to cause the ship to nose over on its back. After it was righted the engine was restarted without difficulty on the fourth turn of the prop, so evidently the trouble was in the fuel system. The airplane was damaged enough that the owner sent it back to the factory for repairs. Actually the fuselage and some other components that received the most damage went to Ryan via the ship, SS Lurline.

Due to a lot of hard luck in 1940 the airplane only logged about 10 hours.

 At this time the aircraft was owned by Olen V. Andrew of the Andrew Flying Service in Honolulu, Hawaii.

In about March 1941 the aircraft ran wild in a hangar, and severely damaged itself.

Then on December 7th, 1941 the Ryan is believed to have been in the air at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl harbor. Mr. Andrew was on his way to the airport the morning when the attack started, by the time he arrived at the airport all his aircraft were on the ground. The only damage was some bullet holes in the fabric of an Interstate Cadet.

It was eventually sold about 1946 to Paul D. Gran, of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

He owned it until about the summer of 1948 when he sold it to James A. Kennedy of Penasacola, Florida. It still had the Menasco, S/N 176 in the nose.

Sometime later Kennedy sold it to Mr. James S. Moss of Tacoma Washington. It is known that Jim Moss (Deceased, September 2013) was involved in a crash with a Ryan ST-A at the Abbotsford Airshow, in British Columbia, Canada, but it cannot be determined if it was this particular Ryan ST-A. Jim Moss passed away September 1, 2013. It was then owned by James Mark Hoskings (Deceased) of Olympia, Washington, who had it for many years. As of 1997, it has been owned by Mr. Bernard Burger of Orange, California, The project was viewed in a Hangar at Corona Airport, California, by this author in 2008, at which time it was stored complete but dismantled pending the start of restoration.

It would appear that restoration started, but the airframe was once again damaged in a flood.

Ownership History

• Ryan School of Aeronautics, Lindbergh Field, San Diego, California;

• Walter H. Dillingham, Honolulu, Hawaii;

• Olen V. Andrew, Andrew Flying Service, John Rogers Airport, Honolulu, Hawaii;

• Paul D. Gran, Minneapolis, Minnesota;

• James A. Kennedy, Pensacola, Florida;

• James S. Moss, Tacoma, Washington;

• James Mark Hoskins, Olympia, Washington;

• Bernard Burger, Orange, California.

Current Ownership

Mr. Bernard F Burger

Notes

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