Design and development
A derivative of the Yakovlev UT-3, the Ya-19was developed as a five-seat light transport by lead designer Oleg K. Antonov. The Ya-19 mated the wings undercarriage, tail unit and engines of the UT-3 with a new fuselage seating five with a single pilot. Access to the cabin and cockpit was by a door on the port side adjacent to the trailing edge. Four passengers sat in the cabin, two a side and the fifth sat next to the right of the pilot in the cockpit. In 1940 Aeroflot requested that the Ya-19 should be produced for use on short haul routes, but the increasing pace of rearmament in the Soviet Union meant that only a single prototype was built. Production was curtailed when the UT-3 failed to achieve large scale production. An ambulance version capable of carrying two stretchers, one walking wounded and a medical assistant was proposed to the VVS. A mock-up review commission approved the design but production relied on continued development of the UT-3 and Ya-19, which was curtailed due to war requirements. Use of the AIR-19 designation would have been very brief, if used at all, as AIR was dropped as a designation when A.I. Rykov was purged in one of Stalin's pogroms.Operational history
The sole prototype completed manufacturer's testing in October 1939 and was then passed to the NII GVF (''Nauchno-Issledovatel'skiy Institut Grazdahnskovo Vozdooshnovo Flota'' - civil air fleet scientific test institute), for state acceptance trials which it passed with good results. Fate of the prototype is unknown.Specifications (Ya-19)
References
{{Yakovlev aircraft 1930s Soviet civil aircraft Ya-19 Aircraft first flown in 1939 Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft