The Avia 40 P glider is the simplified version of the 41P single-seater designed by Raymond Jarlaud and Eric Nessler in the 1930s. Cheaper to build and maintain, the 40 P flew successfully for the first time on 30 May 1935. Sixty of them were ordered by the French Air Force and manufactured by several manufacturers in France and Algeria. Its very simple wooden body has a fully enclosed cockpit. The aircraft no19 exhibited at the Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace (Air and Space Museum) was delivered to the French Air Force in August 1937. Broken shortly after, it was repaired and put back into service. It was finally sold to the museum in 1964.