In November 1987, the Nanchang Aircraft Manufacturing Company (which was renamed the Hongdu Aviation Industry Group in 1998) began design of a modern, purpose designed agricultural aircraft, with the intention of replacing some of the large numbers of license-built
Antonov An-2s in use for that purpose in China. The resulting design, the N-5 first flew on 26 December 1989. It is a single-engined
monoplane of conventional layout for an agricultural aircraft with a low-wing situated ahead of the cockpit. It is of all-metal construction, except for a
glassfibre hopper for chemicals ahead of the cockpit, which is sealed and pressurised to protect the crew during spraying operations, and has an
undercarriage. It is flown by a single pilot, with a tandem jump-seat provided to allow a mechanic to be carried. It is powered by a single
Lycoming O-720 eight-cylinder piston engine, and was
certified as airworthy in this form by the
Civil Aviation Administration of China on 12 August 1992. The N-5A was certified by the
Federal Aviation Administration for use in the United States on 26 February 2007. In response to demands from Chinese operators for a more powerful aircraft, studies were made of versions powered both by more powerful piston and
turboprop engines, before settling on a
Czech Walter M601 turboprop to produce the N-5B, this variant replacing the nosewheel undercarriage of the N-5A with a
tailwheel undercarriage. The N-5B first flew on 28 December 2006. ==Variants==