Charles A. Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis probably is the best known airplane in the world. The airplane’s transatlantic flight brought fame to T. Claude Ryan, whose name is connected to the company that built it–Ryan Airlines, the original Ryan company. But, although the names ‘Ryan and Ryan Airlines appear on the plane, history has overlooked the other name closely intertwined with the legend of Lucky Lindy and his Spirit–Benjamin Franklin Mahoney, owner of Ryan Airlines.

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Mahoney was born on February 8, 1901, in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. His success spanned the Jazz Age–he drove a Stutz Bearcat and flew a Thomas-Morse Scout. Well-dressed, affable, energetic, with a quick mind but little prior business experience, he was attracted by the excitement of aviation. Mahoney had confidence in the future of commercial airlines and transoceanic flying, and he was willing to make a commitment to those goals.

Mahoney’s father, the owner of a retail store chain, died while his son was still in school. Mahoney attended Bordentown Military Institute in New Jersey and Mercersburg Academy in Pennsylvania. In 1919, he and his mother moved to San Diego, where he became a bond salesman.

T. Claude Ryan, a former U.S. Air Service pilot, taught Mahoney to fly. In addition to his aviation school at San Diego, Ryan ran sightseeing and charter flights. For these he used World War I Standard J-1 open-cockpit trainers he had modified by replacing the front cockpit with a four-passenger, closed cabin. He also substituted a 150-hp Hispano-Suiza engine for the original Hall-Scott.

Mahoney came up with an idea for an airline. You’ve got the airplanes here doing a lot of local flying, he said to Ryan. Did you ever think about running a schedule to Los Angeles back and forth on a daily schedule basis? Ryan had doubts. Undeterred, Mahoney pointed out that people are more ready to accept flying than you may think. And he offered to put up the money for an airline for a share of the profits.

Ryan agreed, and the Los Angeles­ San Diego Air Line came into being on March 1, 1925. The fare was $14.50 one way, $22.50 round trip. It was claimed to be the first airline in the United States to operate all year on a regular schedule.

On April 19, 1925, Mahoney bought a half interest in Ryan’s operations–the airline, aviation school and the charter and sightseeing business–for $7,500. The two became partners under the name Ryan Airlines.

In the same year, the partners bought a Cloudster (for Cloud Duster), the first airplane built by Donald Douglas, for $6,000. The huge, open-cockpit, 56-foot-wingspan biplane with a 660-gallon fuel capacity had failed in an attempt to make the first nonstop transcontinental flight in 1921. Ryan and Mahoney converted it for the Los Angeles­San Diego run by building a carpeted and lighted cabin for five passengers, with plush seats on each side of a center aisle. A two-place open cockpit for a pilot and co-pilot was located in front of the cabin.

Ryan Airlines built its first airplane in the fall of 1925. It was named the M-1 (M for monoplane, 1 for first series), and was based on a sketch by Claude Ryan. The fabric-covered M-1 had a tubular-steel fuselage. Its 36-foot wood wing, set above the fuselage and supported by outside braces, resulted in an unobstructed view. Doors on the left side gave access to the open front mail-and-passenger cockpit and to the open rear cockpit for the pilot. The burnished, dappled effect of the metal cowl and covered wheels became a feature of later aircraft. The first M-1, powered by a 150-hp Hispano-Suiza engine, flew in February 1926.

Pacific Air Transport (later absorbed into United Airlines) ordered six M-1s with 200-hp Wright Whirlwind radial engines for airmail service between Los Angeles and Seattle. The partners paid $200 per month to rent part of a vacant fish cannery at the San Diego waterfront for their factory. Twenty-three M-1s were built in the first production year.

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