It was a conventional, high-wing, strut-braced monoplane with a fully enclosed cabin and cockpit, and followed the general pattern developed by Kalinin in his earlier designs, though on a larger scale.

Kalinin had first considered an airliner for 10-12 passengers as early as 1926, but it was not until Ukrvozdukhput expressed interest in such a machine late the following year that work on the design began in earnest.

Ongoing problems with the aircraft's Gnome et Rhône-built Bristol Jupiter engine resulted in the second prototype being powered by a Pratt & Whitney Hornet instead.

State Acceptance trials carried out in May–June 1932 confirmed the reliability of the engine with 550 takeoffs and landings and 2,000 steep turns, but found that the payload capacity was now unacceptably low.

Eventually, the Mikulin M-17F provided the definitive powerplant for the K-5, offering an increase in power and performance over the M-15, but decreasing the aircraft's payload and range due to its greater weight.