The BF-1 was built by the aircraft department of the Brazilian Research and Development Institute Instituto de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento (IPD) (formerly the CTA - Centro Técnico Aeroespacial), using a design of Henrich Focke. It was a conventional three-bladed single rotor helicopter, powered by a 2250NaN0 Continental E225 piston engine, mounted in the nose.[1] The tail unit included a small vertical dorsal fin with a horizontal stabilizer on the starboard side. Two inter-meshing tail rotors, each inclined at 45°, provided pitch and yaw control.
Three prototypes were built, the first flying on 1 January 1959, but the type did not enter production.[2]