Bill Allen sent us a summary of the 2010 Ryan Reunion:
Shown here are Bill Allen, owner of the Ryan STM-2 N466WA with Jerry Ryan, son of the late T Claud Ryan, and Andre Hissink, who flew S-30 eight times while training in the Dutch East Indies military on Java in 1942. Andre lives in Perth Canada and traveled all the way to San Diego with his log book to see the Ryan. He is 90 years old.
We had Andre do an oral history at the San Diego Air and Space Museum.
The Ryan was acquired in 1981 in trade for the first Stearman to go to Australia. She was first restored by Bill Allen and Carl Hays and finished in 1984. In 2009 she was re-restored at Ragtime Aero in Placerville and won best warbird at Reno. The Ryan is powered by a Menasco C4S supercharged 150 HP motor rebuilt by Brad Ball in Santa Paula, CA.
