In March 1982 the HB-1 was the winner of a design contest arranged by the National Airworthiness Directorate (D.S.A.) for a training glider. As winner, the HB-1 was given state financial support for its development and promised a subsidy for its production. However, the contract signed the following year with the D.S.A. limited funding to two prototypes and their development. It was a
Club Class sailplane built entirely from
fibreglass. Its span
shoulder wings had rectangular plan inboard panels, with central
Schempp-Hirth spoilers. Beyond 40% of the span of the outer panels were
trapezoidal, with slightly different sections and with
ailerons filling their
trailing edges. Each wing contained a water tank holding of ballast. Its smoothly rounded fuselage was deepest ahead of the wings. The single seat cockpit had a long, single-piece
canopy which continued the upper forward fuselage profile back almost to the wing
leading edge. The fuselage tapered aft to a rather angular tail, where a tapered
fin had a markedly trapezoidal profile and was large. In contrast, the
rudder was almost rectangular and quite narrow, as were the horizontal surfaces. Its
tailplane was mounted above the fuselage on the fin, about one third the way up. The HB-1 landed on a retractable
monowheel, fitted with a brake and mounted ahead of the wings, and a small tailwheel. The fuselage underside was strengthened to withstand a wheel-up landing. ==Operational history==