To achieve the design aims the Standard Austria was constructed primarily of wood with plywood skinning and a glass-fibre nose section, pilots seat and tail-cone.

Other weight and drag saving measures included use of an all-moving 'V' or 'Butterfly' tail unit with two surfaces, set in a 'V' configuration, providing stability and control in both pitch and yaw, in exchange for increased cost and complexity of the control systems and minor handling side effects, like slight pitching of the aircraft with application of rudder and vice versa.

After the initial production run in Austria, production was moved to Schempp-Hirth in Germany, where the Standard Austria's development continued with improved and heavier models, optional retractable undercarriage, replacement of the NACA section wings with wings using an Eppler 266 section,[2] to improve low-speed performance.

The Schempp-Hirth SHK, a 17-meter Open Class glider, was also developed by Klaus Holighaus in 1965 from the SH-1.

Data from The World's Sailplanes:Die Segelflugzeuge der Welt:Les Planeurs du Monde Volume II[3]General characteristics Performance