This month’s featured aircraft is a Ryan PT-22. The aircraft is a beautiful open cockpit “taildragger” which has been in the hangar at Wings Over Miami for over six years. Flying the Ryan is a real joy for pilot Dr. John Nordt III as this little charmer is not just an aircraft, but a part of the Nordt family legacy, truly representative of the family’s love for flying.
At the end of WWII, Dr. Nordt’s father, an Eastern Airline Captain for 31 years, bought a Ryan P-22 and housed it out at Chapman Field. His dad loved his plane and sadly, the plane was destroyed when the hangar that sheltered it burned to the ground during the 1945 hurricane.
The Nordt family zest for aviation never lost its energy and their love of flight kept them active in the aviation community. In 1984, while attending the Sun and Fun Air Show in Central 
Florida, Dr. Nordt and his father came across the plane of their memories, a Ryan PT-22. In 1985, the aircraft they encountered at the show went on the market. Dr. Nordt brought her home to Richards Field. With the family happily welcoming the Ryan to Miami, the elder pilot Nordt flew the plane until poor health prevented him from continuing to pilot.
The Ryan eventually made its way to Wings Over Miami and where it remains a jewel among the planes exhibited there. It has been flown all over the United States and has made two trips to Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Dr. Nordt believes that flying in the Ryan has given him a great appreciation for the open cockpits of the 1930’s. He believes without doubt that flying in a Ryan cross-country at a 1000 feet has provided him with a “perspective of our country that no other mode of travel could ever offer”.
Miami