It was the first design for the company by Dr. Richard Vogt and the first to feature his trademark tubular steel wing spar which doubled as the main fuel tank.
Hamburger Flugzeugbau had been set up by the owners of Blohm & Voss shipbuilders to manufacture advanced all-metal aircraft.
Dr. Richard Vogt had decided to adopt as a signature feature the use of a hollow welded steel tubular main wing spar, which could be filled with fuel to act as an armoured fuel tank.
[1] A conventional low-wing cantilever monoplane with nose-mounted engine and fixed spatted tailwheel undercarriage, the plane accommodated its pilot in an open cockpit above the wing aft section.
The fuselage tapered sharply towards the top so that a slight bulge on either side of the cockpit was needed to make room for the pilot's shoulders.