Its advanced design incorporated a laminar flow wing, T-tail, retracting undercarriage and a reclining seat to reduce parasitic drag.

The high performance Veltro Italian sailplane was one of a group of gliders designed and built internationally in 1953-4 using 6 series, laminar flow NACA airfoils, following the successful 1950 Ross-Johnson RJ-5 from the US.

[1][2][3] The wing was skinned with 2 mm (0.08 in) thick plywood, apart from the tight radius leading edge which was made of carefully shaped balsa wood glued to a forward false spar.

[1][2] The trailing edges carried fabric covered slotted ailerons outboard and ply covered slotted flaps which at low deflection angles acted as camber changing, lift increasing devices to increase the speed range and at higher angles (>60°) acted as airbrakes.

Forward of the wing a long, one piece perspex canopy reaching almost to the nose covered the cockpit, in which the pilot had a reclining seat to reduce the overall cross sectional area.