The fuselage of the ES-49 is a deep sided hexagon apart from the nose ahead of the cockpit, where an extra singly curved, horizontal panel is inserted for greater visibility. The aft seat is under the leading edge of the wing. Initially the ES-49 had separate, open cockpits but the first prototype later had a multi-panelled canopy enclosing the forward seat but not that of the instructor. The second prototype had a canopy which enclosed both occupants, an arrangement adopted by production aircraft which have tubular steel framed glazing, with a short, upward hinged section for the instructor who also has under wing side windows and an overhead transparency in the leading edge. The fuselage tapers to the rear, where the straight tapered, blunt tipped tailplane and elevators, covered with a mixture of ply and fabric, are mounted on top. A long trim tab fills the trailing edge of the starboard elevator. Since the elevator hinge is ahead of the fin, only a small cut-out for rudder movement is required. The fin is narrow and short, mounting a balanced rudder with a straight tapered trailing edge and rounded tip which reaches down to the keel. The second prototype had a shorter fuselage and so had a larger area, almost finless, double straight tapered rudder but the production ES-49s reverted to the first prototype's longer fuselage and smaller rudder. The ES-49 lands on a single semi-recessed, unbraked monowheel, assisted under the nose and cockpit by a sprung skid and by a smaller skid under the tail.
