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There is also the F. There are probably 200 or less of these late models with the majority of them being the D variant. Series production has supposedly ended for all Q-5s.
I have to disagree on this one. The fact you have Q-5E/F/J prototypes indicate that new aircraft are still being built, even at reduced levels. Once you have dissolved a production line, it’s like Humpty Dumpy—it is very hard to get everything back, with all the skilled labor and management gone.
The J prototype is exactly that. The model is not in series production yet and it could be nothing more than a proposal prototype (like the A6F or F-18L) that never enter full production.
I have no idea if the D or E/F are in series right now. But there is no official word that the line is discontinued either. That’s why I said supposedly as more than one printed source said the line is no longer in production .
Like the J-7 and J-8II lines, there has to be some low rate of production in order to keep the production line, then ramp up the production if needed.
Agree.
Personally there is something about the way plane looks that I look, quite raw, spunky and retro looking.
Spunky, it certainly was. The history of the Q-5 makes for fantastic reading. The team at Nanchang (NAMC) who designed the Q-5 keep the project alive throughout the Cultural Revolution. They weren’t officially supported. Then again that team had always mavericks and enthusiasts.
The Q-5 team had included members who were involved in China’s first jet fighter, the JJ-1, and then the wildly successful CJ6A.
A few years ago, the lead designer that kept the Q-5 alive died. I don’t have his name off the top of my head. He was in his 80s. There were stories that his passing mean the end of the Q-5.
By the way, NAMC today is Hongdu which is still among the most nimble of China’s aviation firms with its K-8 and L-15.
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