Cutter Flying Service Ryan PT-22 Recruit

Additional Information:

The Ryan PT-22 Recruit, the main military version of the Ryan ST, was a military trainer aircraft that was used by the United States Army Air Corps during WWII for primary pilot training. Built by the Ryan Aeronautical Company, the PT-22 was developed in 1941 and became the United States Army Air Corps’ (USAAC) first purpose built monoplane trainer. The rapid expansion of wartime aircrew training required new trainers and the Ryan PT-22 was ordered in large numbers by the USAAC. Named the “Recruit”, it entered operational service in the United States.

Cutter Flying Service Inc. was founded in 1928 by William P. Cutter in Albuquerque, NM to serve an upcoming aviation community in the Southwestern United States. Cutter Flying Service during the Great Depression and World War II provided needed air charter service to reach ranches, towns and businesses scattered across the rugged landscape of New Mexico, Arizona and Texas. In 1938, Cutter Flying Service offered aircraft sales, line, and fuel services to transient pilots as a Phillips 66 Aviation fuel dealer, and provided aircraft maintenance to support the growing number of aircraft in the Southwest.

At the outbreak of World War II, when much of General Aviation and the businesses that supported it came to a stop because of the war, Cutter Flying Service became a pilot training provider for the United States military to stay in business from 1941 to 1945. In addition to providing basic flight training and glider operations, the U.S. Navy designated Cutter as a Naval Air Training School as part of the Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP) at its primary business location at West Mesa Airport in Albuquerque.

Cutter’s Flying Service had the contract in 1942 and trained approximately 200 pilots here using the Ryan PT-22 series. The aircraft used several different types of engines from inline to radial during this period.

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