Like several other amateur Polish designers in the 1930s, Adam Ścibor-Rylski was interested in simple, low cost machines.
As a student at the Warsaw Technical University, he began his studies with the ŚR-1, an attempt to motorize the Wrona basic, open-frame glider.
Difficulties in mounting an engine in this structure led to the ŚR-2 which had the Wrona wing married to a new nacelle.
With the encouragement of LOPP and the Silesian Gliding Workshop (SWS) he received government funding.
The ŚR-3's single-seat cockpit was under the wing leading edge and had an upward hinged, one-piece transparent cover.