After the Second World War the Chinese air force mainly got Russian-built aircraft like MIG-15, MIG-17, Tupolev TU-4, and so on. Very soon China restarted its own aviation industry and manufactured these Russian aircraft under license, many types being radically improved. Their notation was easy: attack aircraft are indicated with an 'A', bombers with a 'B', fighters with an 'F', transport aircraft with an 'Y' and helicopters with a 'Z'. In some cases a 'T' for trainer or 'R' for reconnaissance are added. The first Chinese built attack aircraft was called 'A-1'; a BT-5 is a Chinese built trainer version of the Il-28 bomber. The factories in China do not have a name; there are a lot of aircraft manufacturers, and they are simply indicated by the town where they are housed. Well-known plants are in Shenyang (F-2, F-5, F-6, F-8), Xi'an (F-5, F-6, F-7, H-6), Chengdu (F-7), Harbin (Y-5, Y-12, H-5, Z-5) and Nanchang (CJ-5, CJ-6, A-5).
