The prototype of the AV-36, constructed by Charles Fauvel and his son, made its first flight December 31, 1951 demonstrating its outstanding flight qualities immediately along with excellent longitudinal stability. The aircraft earned its French Navigability Certificate quickly, then shortly after came the Canadian certificate and the German certificate (the last officially allowing simple acrobatics). Some fifty examples were constructed by the Wassmer society, in Issoire. This establishment offered subsets (called kits today) for the receiving aeroclubs to assemble. Several were constructed under license in Germany, and many more built not only by amateurs in France, but also in Canada, England, Germany, Brazil and in Italy.

 

The AV-36 had performance very comparable to other gliders of the era with the advantage of being structurally simpler, stronger and less costly. Many pilots achieved roundtrip distance flights of 500 kilometers. In June 1954, Eric Nessler, the very famous French glider pilot who was a strong supporter of the Fauvel type, participated in the Paris-Biarritz race flying the AV-36. In 1957, Claude Visse earned his FAI Gold Badge in the AV-36.

The AV-36 flew in 16 countries. Fifty or so were built in France as "kits" (parts furnished by the Wassmer works, assembly carried out by the aero-clubs) and about twice that many were built from plans by amateur builders. It was later replaced by an improved model, the AV 36 Mk II, officially designated the AV-361.

In spite of strong criticism from detractors of the Fauvel flying wing formula, based more on prejudices rather than on the real facts, there existed in 1966 about a hundred AV-36 and AV-361 gliders. The AV-361 whose prototype flew in 1960 was an improvement of the AV-36. This version distinguished itself with a longer wing span (12.78 meters), aerodynamic wing improvements (of Hoerner type), reworked vertical surfaces and installation of perforated Schempp-Hirth type air brakes on top and bottom of the wing. The fuselage was made with a more oval, comfortable shape and a plexiglas bubble canopy permitted a more panoramic view. A nose tow hook replaced the two tow line attachments under the wings. Finally, control input had been modified for more aileron differential, providing better control harmony and less adverse yaw during turns. These changes resulted in an increased glide ratio (L/D) of 2 points, and a reduction in the sink rate of 6 cm/sec. Many of the AV-36’s built were equipped with the improvements that were later incorporated in the model AV-361, notably in Germany. Some German amateur builders went even farther by motorizing the AV-36 with the addition of a small pusher 2-cycle engine and a folding propellor at the rear of the short fuselage located between the dual rudders.

 

The last perfecting of this design version was the changing of the wing airfoil to the Wortmann Laminar FX-66 HS 159 instead the original Fauvel F4. The result was a glide ratio (L/D) of 30 at 85 km/h.