The Istra was designed in 1970 and completed in 1974 as part of his sport flying with the Second Moscow Aeroclub and he and club members experimented with it for ten years.

The aircraft was well received at the 1993 competition and fly-off held in Oerlinghausen, Germany, but the lack of a manufacturing facility behind the design, plus political pressures meant that the "Dream" glider was awarded second place behind the winning Polish Politechnika Warszawska PW-5.

[3][4][6] Disappointed with the outcome of the competition, the Mechta group found consolation in the enthusiasm of Americans who attended with their Roberts Cygnet design.

They had great interest in the simple Russian glider and indicated that the North American market was right for such an aircraft for solo training and Club class flying.

In response Aviastroitel created a second set of molds and started a second assembly line in Penza, giving a total production capacity of 48 AC-4s per year.

By 2002 the company had produced over 100 gliders, most of them being shipped to the US, with smaller numbers sold in Canada, Greece, Holland and New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

The company ceased production and concentrated on a new two-seat touring motor glider model, the AC-7M, moving future manufacturing off shore.