[1][2] The Carat was designed by Technoflug around the wings and horizontal tail of the Schempp-Hirth Discus sailplane, marrying these to a new fuselage, fin, undercarriage and engine..

In plan the wings have parallel chord inner panels and two outer sections of increasing straight taper.

The cockpit, enclosed in a large clear single piece canopy, is at the trailing edge of the wing, with the main spar under the pilot's knees.

[1] The Carat is powered by an air-cooled, four cylinder, Volkswagen derived, 40 kW (54 hp) Sauer S1800 piston engine.

[citation needed] The first flight was made on 16 December 1997 and the first production model displayed at Aero '99 at Friedrichshafen in April 1999 as the Technoflug TFK-2 Carat.