The design was completed under his leadership in 1970, at IMFCA Bucharest (Institutul de Mecanica Fluidelor si Cercetari Aerospatiale - Institute of Fluid Mechanics and Aerospace Research).

The second plane built participated at the Farnborough Air Show in September 1974, registered YR-MEA.

The main customer was the Romanian Air Force, which needed to replace the IAR-813 in the basic flight training role.

Small numbers of aircraft were delivered to the Romanian Air Club, being operated at Brasov, Clinceni, Pitesti, Deva and other airfields.

[2] There, the Romanians put the bases of the 188th ENAM (national military aviation school),[3] also having at their disposal 6 IAR-316B Alouette III and 6 BN-2A Islander, all manufactured in Romania.

Flight training began already on 18 May 1981, with the first solo sortie of an Angolan trainee taking place on 30 July 1981 on board the IAR-823.

[4] The Romanians returned home while the remaining IAR-823 - plus the other aircraft - were handed over to the Angolan Air Force.

Another 6 were purchased in October 2004 from the Romanian Air Club, The overwhelming majority of these were restored back to flying condition.