Ryan
Airlines Ryan-Standard
Biplane
(c/n ?)
Tubal Claude Ryan
was an early American aviator who had formed a flying school in
San Diego, California in the early 1920s with an ex-military Curtiss
JN-4 Jenny. His first
mechanic was Harley Bowlus, and his major funder at the time was
Benjamin Franklin
("Frank") Mahoney a young stock broker who was also
a pupil at the flying school.
. In 1925 Ryan and Mahoney began passenger
operations using a much modified Stand-
ard Biplane which Bowlus had fitted to carry four passengers.
This must have been a
very cramped space indeed. He also modified a Douglas
Cloudster to carry 10
passengers (see next entry). The company flew as the Los Angeles
- San Diego Airline..
The shot above and the photo below of the
close-up of the much modified Standard
are images from the San Diego Air & Space Museum
archives. By 1926 Ryan had
dissolved the airline, turning to aircraft manufacturing only.