By the mid 30's, the new generation of low-wing, with retractable landing gear, airplanes was beginning to replace the old biplanes. Pilots had to learn to master these new machines, but there was a problem : most flight schools still used all kinds of obsolete, aging biplanes as trainers for new pilots. Transition from biplane to monoplane often proved very difficult, even for experienced pilots.

The Italians were amongst the first to realize the need for a simple, cheap monoplane, capable of filling the gap between the biplanes used for basic flight training and the advanced fighters and bombers of operational squadrons. To meet this demand, the Nardi company came up with an aircraft designated as Nardi FN-305.

The aircraft featured all modern characteristics that could be encountered : it was a low-wing monoplane, built in a mixed wood-metal configuration. It had a retractable main landing gear and a fully enclosed cockpit. The instructor and pilot sat in tandem, side by side. This made training easier, since each one could see what the other was doing. An Alfa Romeo 115 radial engine, rated at 800 HP was selected for the powerplant, mainly for its reliability and ease of maintenance. The prototype flew for the first time in 1935, and it quickly convinced many of its utility. First to order it in numbers was the Italian airforce, followed by Chile, Hungary and even France, who intended to buy some 500 FN-305's, but only 41 were actually delivered before June 1940, when Italy declared war on France.

Romania became interested in the Nardi FN-305 in 1936, at the time when the negotiations for the Savoia-Marchetti SM-79B had begun. At first it was supposed to just buy some planes, but later it was decided to buy the license.