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#1409

Ryan Navion

🇺🇸 United States ·first flew 1946· light fixed-wing aircraft

🛩️ light / GA piston ✓ still flying
10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
  1. 1. North American L-17A USAF: USAF· Public domain
  2. 2. N Am L-17 Navion: Holly Cheng· CC BY-SA 3.0
  3. 3. Navion A side 20060729: Mark Wagner· CC BY 2.5
  4. 4. Navion side 20060729: Mark Wagner· CC BY 2.5
  5. 5. Ryan L-17 Navion on USS Leyte 1950: SDASM Archives· Public domain
  6. 6. Ryan N.A. Navion G RMstr F-BKQT Toussus 16.06.63 edited-2: RuthAS· CC BY 3.0
  7. 7. Twin Navion: FlugKerl2· CC BY-SA 3.0
  8. 8. N344J 1947 North American Navion NA-145 C-N NAV4-196 (15636382981): Tomás Del Coro from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA· CC BY-SA 2.0
  9. 9. N4008K 1947 Ryan NAVION C-N NAV-4-1008 (11426473366): Tomás Del Coro from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA· CC BY-SA 2.0
  10. 10. N4978K, Ryan Navion: Ziongarage· CC0
Read about it on Wikipedia ↗
Ryan Navion, photo 1 of 10
1/10 USAF· Public domain

what is it?

The Ryan (originally North American) Navion is a single-engine, unpressurized, retractable gear, four-seat aircraft originally designed and built by North American Aviation in the 1940s. It was later built by Ryan Aeronautical Company and the Tubular Steel Corporation (TUSCO). The Navion was envisioned as an aircraft that would perfectly match the expected postwar boom in civilian aviation.

How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 10.2 m wingspan

base stats

  • speed 280 km/htop speed
  • range 960 kmwithout refuelling
  • seats 3passengers
  • size 1,293 kgmax take-off weight
  • built 2,634made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

  • First flew 80 years ago, in 1946.
  • Top speed is 2.2× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
  • Wingspan of 10.2 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight
1946-04
introduced
1948
status
still flying
number built
2,634
role
light fixed-wing aircraft
origin
🇺🇸 United States
engines
1× Lycoming GO-435-C2 / GO-435
crew
1
passengers
3
length
8.4 m
wingspan
10.2 m
height
2.6 m
max take-off weight
1,293 kg
top speed
280 km/h
cruise speed
274 km/h
range
960 km
ceiling
5,486 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.

Sources: Wikidata Q1279022, Wikipedia: Ryan Navion (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.

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