The first of the five YH-19 prototypes capable of carrying ten passengers in addition to a crew of two first flew on 10 November 1949 and was characterized by a blunt-ended fuselage, which lacked the broad, triangular fillet connecting the fuselage to the tail boom which distinguished all the later series aircraft. Another characteristic of the YH-19 was the horizontal stabilizer applied to the starboard side of the tail, which was replaced in the production aircraft by two anhedral tail surfaces.