The Yakovlev Ya-19, (aka S-19 or AIR-19), was a 5-seat light transport aircraft developed directly from the Yakovlev UT-3 during the late 1930s. The Ya-19 did not enter production, despite positive results from flight trials, due to the lack of development of the UT-3 and cancellation of the Voronezh MV-6 engine program, which were the result of changing priorities in the face of the Great Patriotic War.

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.^[1]

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.^[1]

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.^[1]

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.^[1]

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.^[1]

Specifications (Ya-19)

Data from OKB Yakovlev,^[2] Yakovlev aircraft since 1924^[1]

General characteristics

• Crew: 1 or 2
• Capacity: 5 passengers
• Length: 10.02 m (32 ft 10 in)
• Wingspan: 15 m (49 ft 3 in)
• Wing area: 33.42 m² (359.7 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 2,134 kg (4,705 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 2,950 kg (6,504 lb)
• Fuel capacity: 280 kg (620 lb) fuel, 26 kg (57 lb) oil
• Powerplant: 2 × Voronezh MV-6 6-cylinder inverted in-line air-cooled piston engines, 160 kW (220 hp) each
• Propellers: 2-bladed wooden fixed pitch propellers

Performance

• Maximum speed: 271 km/h (168 mph, 146 kn) *Landing speed: 86 km/h (53 mph; 46 kn)
• Cruise speed: 235 km/h (146 mph, 127 kn)
• Range: 783 km (487 mi, 423 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 5,600 m (18,400 ft)
• Time to altitude: 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in 5.3 minutes, 3,000 m (9,800 ft) in 17 minutes
• Take-off run: 410 m (1,350 ft)
• Landing run: 365 m (1,198 ft)