Ryan PT-20A

The Ryan PT-20A was an open-cockpit primary trainer used by the U.S. Army Air Corps on the eve of World War II. It descended directly from Ryan's elegant ST sport monoplane, a low-wing, fixed-gear two-seater of polished metal and fabric that had won a strong reputation in the 1930s. The Army's first batch, the PT-16/PT-20, used the inline Menasco engine; the PT-20A designation covered aircraft re-engined with the more reliable 160-horsepower Kinner R-540 radial, a change that pointed the way to the mass-produced PT-22 Recruit.

Built by the Ryan Aeronautical Company of San Diego, the type trained fledgling military pilots in the basics of flight, aerobatics and discipline before they moved on to more powerful machines. Though produced in modest numbers, the PT-20A is an important link in the chain of Ryan trainers that prepared thousands of American aviators for war.