 First flown in February 1945, the type was built from plans by Finnish gliding clubs and soon replaced earlier primary gliders such as the Grunau 9, becoming a standard piece of equipment in the clubs.In 1946, Raimo Häkkinen and Juhani Heinonen from Polyteknikkojen Ilmailukerho redesigned the Harakka to strengthen it.This improved version became known as the Harakka II or PIK-7.