Tubal Claude Ryan (January 3, 1898 – September 11, 1982) was an American

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they a ...

born in

Parsons, Kansas Parsons is a city in Labette County, Kansas, Labette County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 9,600. It is the most populous city of Labette County, and the second-most pop ...

. Ryan was best known for founding several airlines and aviation factories.

Early years

Ryan began his flying career in 1917 when he enrolled in the American School of Aviation in

Venice, California Venice is a neighborhood of the City of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, whe ...

. After making his first solo flight, he was accepted into the Army Air Service with an under-age waiver. The day that he was to report, the armistice was signed, ending his prospects for a military flying career. Instead, Ryan went to

Oregon State College Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees through all 11 of the universit ...

and studied mechanical engineering, then was accepted into the Aeronautical Division of the U.S. Army (later known as the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

). While in the Army, Ryan learned to fly at

March Field March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 21 m ...

, California, from where he graduated in 1921. Ryan flew forestry patrol duty in northern California and Oregon until 1922, when he formed the Ryan Flying Company. His flying service operated in San Diego using a

Curtiss JN-4 The Curtiss JN "Jenny" is a series of biplanes built by the Glenn Curtiss Aeroplane Company of Hammondsport, New York, later the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. Although the Curtiss JN series was originally produced as a training aircraft ...

Jenny for joy-rides, flight instruction and charter trips. In March 1925, Ryan Airlines, Inc. started flying passengers on round trip flights between San Diego and Los Angeles. Working with

Hawley Bowlus William Hawley Bowlus (May 8, 1896 – August 27, 1967) was an American designer, engineer and builder of aircraft (especially gliders) and recreational vehicles in the 1930s and 1940s. Today he is most widely known for his creation of the wo ...

, Ryan converted six government surplus Standard J-1 biplanes into Ryan-Standards. Capable of carrying four passengers in a forward cabin, they were powered by a 150-hp

Hispano-Suiza Hispano-Suiza () is a Spanish automotive company. It was founded in 1904 by Marc Birkigt and as an automobile manufacturer and eventually had several factories in Spain and France that produced luxury cars, aircraft engines, trucks and weapons. ...

Business career

Beginnings

One of Ryan's students was a wealthy young stock broker and real-estate developer named Benjamin Franklin Mahoney, with whom Ryan formed a business partnership. Ryan and Mahoney bought the Douglas Cloudster, which Bowlus modified to carry 10 passengers in comfort. The pilot and co-pilot sat side by side in an open cockpit.

Ryan Airlines

The company's first production aircraft was the

Ryan M-1 The Ryan M-1 was a mail plane produced in the United States in the 1920s, the first original design built by Ryan Aeronautical, Ryan.Taylor 1989, p. 774. It was a conventional gear parasol-wing monoplane with two open cockpits in tandem and fixed ...

monoplane

mail plane The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...

, which flew in 1926. Working drawings were to have been provided by William J. Waterhouse and Lloyd Royer at Glendale Airport. They failed to provide a complete set, and instead built their own version, the Waterhouse Cruzair. Ryan And Bowlus completed their own plans and construction, while Jack Northrop, employed by Donald Douglas, worked weekends redesigning key aspects of the M-1. On 30 November 1926, the Ryan-Mahoney partnership ended when Ryan sold his interest in the Ryan Flying Company and Los-Angeles-San Diego Airline. On 15 July 1927, the company was reorganized as the B. F. Mahoney Aircraft Corporation. Ryan's role after this point is disputed, but it is known that he was not present for the planning and development of

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, and author. On May 20–21, 1927, he made the first nonstop flight from New York (state), New York to Paris, a distance of . His aircra ...

Spirit of St. Louis The ''Spirit of St. Louis'' (formally the Ryan NYP, registration: N-X-211) is the custom-built, single-engine, single-seat, high-wing monoplane that Charles Lindbergh flew on May 20–21, 1927, on the Charles Lindbergh#New York–Paris flight ...

or the related

Ryan Brougham The Ryan Brougham was a small single-engine airliner produced in the United States in the late 1920s and early 1930s.Taylor 1989, p. 772. Its design was reminiscent of the Ryan M-1, M-1 mailplane first produced by Ryan in 1926, and like it, was ...

, although they were enclosed and enlarged developments of the M-1.

The Ryan Aeronautical Corporation

On 1 May 1928, Ryan opened the Ryan Flying School in San Diego. Ryan Airport at Dutch Flats, also offered charter flights and other flying services. The names of these services became known as the T.C. Ryan Flying Service, the T.C. Ryan Flying School, and the T.C. Ryan Aeronautical Corporation.

The "new" Ryan Aeronautical Corporation

In 1931, Ryan organized his

flying school Flight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills. Flight training can be conducted under a str ...

in San Diego as the Ryan School of Aeronautics, Ltd. In 1935, the corporate name became The

Ryan Aeronautical The Ryan Aeronautical Company was founded by T. Claude Ryan in San Diego, California, in 1934. It became part of Teledyne in 1969, and of Northrop Grumman when the latter company purchased Ryan in 1999. Ryan built several historically and tec ...

Company, with the school as a subsidiary. The school used Great Lakes 2T-1 biplanes."Ryan."
''New Zealand Warbirds.'' Retrieved: May 9, 2012. This company was one of many around the country that served the government's need for pilot training through the

Civilian Pilot Training Program The Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP) was a flight training program (1938–1944) sponsored by the United States government with the stated purpose of increasing the number of civilian pilots, though having a clear impact on military prepare ...

as they were increasing their readiness prior to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Ryan decided to produce his own

trainer aircraft A trainer is a class of aircraft designed specifically to facilitate flight training of pilots and aircrews. The use of a dedicated trainer aircraft with additional safety features—such as tandem flight controls, forgiving flight characteristic ...

, and returned to manufacturing. By June 1934, Ryan, working with engineers Millard Boyd and Will Vandermeer, had designed and built the first

Ryan ST The Ryan STs are a series of two seat, low-wing monoplane aircraft built in the United States by the Ryan Aeronautical Company. They were used as sport aircraft, as well as trainers by flying schools and the militaries of several countries. ...

. In 1939, the US military version became the first trainer that was not a biplane. The ST was followed by S-C Sports Coupe, with an enclosed side-by-side cabin, although this didn't sell as widely and only 11 were built before the war, and the focus on the ST ended production. Ryan developed the YO-51 Dragonfly for observation and liaison, but only built three. Later, during

, Ryan developed the FR-1 Fireball mixed jet/piston power carrier-based fighter of which 66 were delivered to the US Navy. The XF2R-1 Dark Shark replaced the piston engine in the nose with a turboprop. After the war, Ryan bought the North American Navion design and built it as the Ryan Navion. They also developed and produced the

Firebee The Ryan Firebee is a series of target drones developed by the Ryan Aeronautical Company beginning in 1951. It was one of the first jet-propelled drones, and remains one of the most widely used target drones ever built. Development Ryan Fireb ...

and related drones, which saw extensive use during the Vietnam War. They also developed a series of experimental vertical take off and landing aircraft exploring different ideas, including the X-13 Vertijet tailsitter, the VZ-3 Vertiplane, the XV-5 Vertifan and the XV-8 Flexible Wing Aerial Utility Vehicle although none of these led to a production aircraft. In 1969, Ryan sold Ryan Aeronautical to the

Teledyne Teledyne Technologies Incorporated is an American industrial conglomerate. It was founded in 1960, as Teledyne, Inc. by Henry Singleton and George Kozmetsky. From August 1996 to November 1999, Teledyne existed as part of the conglomerate Al ...

Corporation, and became a wholly owned subsidiary. The name was changed to Teledyne Ryan Aeronautical Company. The company continued to produce a variety of pilotless drones as well as airframes for the

AH-64 Apache The Hughes/McDonnell Douglas/Boeing AH-64 Apache ( ) is an American twin-turboshaft attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type landing gear and a tandem cockpit for a crew of two. Nose-mounted sensors help acquire targets and provide night vis ...

helicopter. Despite there being no connection beyond T. Claude Ryan having founded both, Teledyne-Ryan continues to be claimed as the successor of the company that built the Spirit of St. Louis. Teledyne later sold off the drone division to

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and Arms industry, defense company. With 97,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $40 billion, it is one of the world's largest Arms industry ...

Later years

After his retirement Ryan formed a new company with his son Jerome to develop and market the Ryan ST-100 Cloudster, a

motor glider A motor glider is a fixed-wing aircraft that can be flown with or without engine power. The FAI Gliding Commission Sporting Code definition is: a fixed-wing aerodyne equipped with a means of propulsion (MoP), capable of sustained soaring flig ...

the elder Ryan had designed. The aircraft was

type certified A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft, according to its manufacturing design (''type design''). Certification confirms that the aircraft of a new type intended for serial production is in compliance w ...

as both a light aircraft and powered glider, but Ryan died before production was commenced and only one was completed.Said, Bob. "1983 Sailplane Directory." ''

Soaring Magazine ''SOARING'' is a magazine published monthly as a membership benefit of the Soaring Society of America. It was first published in 1937. The headquarters is in Hobbs, New Mexico. The magazine's article topics include safety issues and accounts of i ...

,'' Soaring Society of America, November 1983, p. 126."Type Certificate Data Sheet No. A7NM."
''

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

,'' July 1983. Retrieved: March 16, 2011."Type Certificate Data Sheet No. G1nm."
''

,'' July 1983. Retrieved: March 16, 2011. Ryan died September 11, 1982, in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. His wife, Zeta Gladys Bowen Ryan, died in 1997.

Honors

* 1948 - Presidential Certificate of Merit, given by President Harry S. Truman in recognition of Ryan Aeronautical's contribution to the Allied war effort * 1958 -

Horatio Alger Award The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans is a nonprofit organization based in Alexandria, Virginia, that was founded in 1947 to promote and ensure the American Dream for future generations, honor the achievements of outstanding Un ...

* 1965 -

International Aerospace Hall of Fame The International Air & Space Hall of Fame is an honor roll of people, groups, organizations, or things that have contributed significantly to the advancement of aerospace flight and technology, sponsored by the San Diego Air & Space Museum T ...

inductee * 1966 - Mr. San Diego, awarded annually by Civic Leaders of San Diego * 1970 - Fellow of the

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is a professional society for the field of aerospace engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecra ...

* 1971 - Service to Aviation Award, awarded by the National Business Aircraft Show * 1974 -

National Aviation Hall of Fame The National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF) is a museum, annual awards ceremony and learning and research center that was founded in 1962 as an Ohio non-profit corporation in Dayton, Ohio, United States, known as the "Birthplace of Aviation" with ...

inductee * 1975 - Honorary Fellow of the

Society of Experimental Test Pilots The Society of Experimental Test Pilots is an international organization that seeks to promote air safety and contributes to aeronautical advancement by promoting sound aeronautical design and development; interchanging ideas, thoughts and sugges ...

* 1981 - Aerospace Life Achievement Award, awarded by AIAA San Diego to a living aerospace pioneer with more than fifty years' experience advancing the frontiers of aeronautics * 1982 - Honorary Fellow of the

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, San Diego Section. Archival Collection, Applications 1972-1982, San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Bowers, Peter M. "The Many Splendid Spirits of St. Louis." ''Air Progress'', Volume 20, No. 6, June 1967. * Cassagneres, Ev. ''The Untold Story of the Spirit of St. Louis: From the Drawing Board to the Smithsonian''. New Brighton, Minnesota: Flying Book International, 2002. . * Hall, Nova. ''Spirit and Creator: The Mysterious Man Behind Lindbergh's Flight to Paris.'' Sheffield, Massachusetts: Safe Goods Publishing, 2003. . * Sprekelmeyer, Linda, editor. ''These We Honor: The International Aerospace Hall of Fame''. Donning Co. Publishers, 2006. .

External links

Aerospace Memorial BiographyHoratio Alger Association Membership Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, T. Claude Aviators from California Aviators from Kansas People from Parsons, Kansas Businesspeople from San Diego History of San Diego 1898 births 1982 deaths American people of Irish descent American aerospace engineers Engineers from California 20th-century American engineers 20th-century American businesspeople