| The latest R/C project is going to be the Ryan ST-M from Great Planes. This will be my third Ryan. I previously built a SIG Ryan STA and the Byron Ryan STA. This one, however will be my first military version. The Army Air Corps verion of the Ryana ST was designated the PT-16. It was powered by a Menasco L-365 4 cylinder engine. The Ryan was the first monoplane purchased by the Army for flight training. Later variants were fitted with a 5 cylinder Kinner engine and renamed PT-22's. Great Plane's Ryan is an ARF. It follows their very succesful Ryan STA. The military version is identical except for the covering and addition of the forward cockpit. I'm planning on building the ARF stock with no changes. Right now the plane has been ordered and is on it's way. As I build it I'll be documenting the progress here. The powerplant for this bird will be an OS91 Surpass donated by my Bucker Jungmann. The time has come to retire the Bucker and the Ryan will be a worthy successor for the 91. |
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| Here are the parts out of the box. The box itself is huge and everything was packed very securely. The was no evidence of damage during transit. Everything comes packed in plastic bags. I took a basic inventory of the contents and all the parts were there. |
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| After cutting and installing the aileron hinges from the supplied sheet od easy hinge material one of the first things to do is install the aileron servos. You need to cut the covering on the servo opening . Inside you'll find a string taped. You use this to tie to the servo extension and pull it thru to route it out the exit hole on the top of the wing. I needed to open the servo hole just a bit so I could get my Hobbico sevos to fit. I'm sure it's sized for a standard Futaba but if you're going to use Hitecs then you'll need to file a bit. I used the hardware supplied with the kit. The plane is not going to be a precision aerobatic machine and the controls as supplied are more than adequate. |
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| The landing gear wire looks very nicely done. It's painted black and is ready to install. Before you do you'll need to cut slits in the covering where the gear wire goes and provide a relief in the aft slot for the forward angle of the sping brace wire.(see inset photo on the above pic) If you don't do this the rear wire won't fully sit in it's slot. The screw holes for the gear straps need to be drilled as well. Even when they are piloted it's still very hard wood they are going into. The picture shows the axle installed. It needs to be removed before the pant goes on. Make sure to file a flat on the gear wire for the axle retaining screw. |
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| On to the next page.... |
| Before you install the wheel pants you need to reinforce sections of them where the mounting screws will pass thru. I used some 5 min epoxy mixed with micro-ballons. |
| This is what the wheel pant looks like mounted. You have to slip the pant over the gear wire (before the wheel and axle are installed) and it's a bit tricky to get it on. The f/g started to crack in places as I finally managed to get it over the gear wire. The wheel/axle is then installed. After lining up the pant to the wing and the wheel it's installed by drilling four locations for s/m screws into the hardwood gear blocks. The holes in the wheel pant ONLY are enlarged to 3/32". This lets the screw 'float' in the pant and prevent vibration cracks. |