Ryan Flying Reporter 1942 Volume 4 No. 8

The Ryan Aeronautical Company was founded by T. Claude Ryan in San Diego, California in 1934. Part of Teledyne after 1969, Northrop Grumman purchased Teledyne Ryan in 1999. Ryan built several historically and technically significant aircraft, including four innovative V/STOL designs, but its most successful production aircraft would be the Ryan Firebee line of unmanned drones used as targets and unmanned air vehicles.
Interest from the United States Army Air Corps followed. The Menasco engines proved unreliable, and instead Kinner radial engines were fitted. Aircraft were produced as the PT-16 (15 built), PT-20 (30 built), PT-21 (100 USAAF, 100 USN) and finally as the definitive PT-22 Recruit (1,298 built) ordered in 1941 as pilot training began its rapid expansion.
Ryan also pioneered STOL techniques in its YO-51 Dragonfly observation craft. Three prototypes were built, but no USAAF order came.