Applebay Sailplanes was an American

aircraft manufacturer An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, or spacecraft. Aerospace is a high technology industry. ...

, founded by George Applebay and based in

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of

sailplanes A glider or sailplane is a type of glider aircraft used in the leisure activity and sport of gliding (also called soaring). This unpowered aircraft can use naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to gain altitude. Sailplan ...

in the form of ready-to-fly

type certified A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft, according to its manufacturing design (''type design''). It confirms that the aircraft of a new type intended for serial production, is in compliance with applica ...

aircraft, as well as some experimental types.Said, Bob: ''1983 Sailplane Directory,

Soaring Magazine ''SOARING'' is a magazine published monthly as a membership benefit of the Soaring Society of America. It was first published in 1937. The headquarters is in Hobbs, New Mexico. The magazine's article topics include safety issues and accounts of ind ...

'', page 34, 48 and 133.

Soaring Society of America The Soaring Society of America (SSA) was founded at the instigation of Warren E. Eaton to promote the sport of soaring in the USA and internationally. The first meeting was held in New York City in the McGraw–Hill Building on February 20, 1932. ...

November 1983. USPS 499-920Simons, Martin. ''Sailplanes 1965-2000”. 2nd revised edition. EQIP Werbung und Verlag G.m.b.H.. Königswinter. 2005.

History

George Applebay's first sailplane design constructed was the Applebay GA-II Chiricahua, a wood and

fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

glider for the

FAI Standard Class Competition classes in gliding, as in other sports, mainly exist to ensure fairness in competition. However the classes have not been targeted at fostering technological development as in other sports. Instead classes have arisen because of: * t ...

that first flew in 1970. Only one Chiricahua was built. In 1975 he flew the prototype Applebay GA-111 Mescalero, a mixed metal and

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...

FAI Open Class Competition classes in gliding, as in other sports, mainly exist to ensure fairness in competition. However the classes have not been targeted at fostering technological development as in other sports. Instead classes have arisen because of: * t ...

glider. The Mescalero was intended for production, but Applebay decided to concentrate on his next design, the all-fiberglass Zuni for the 15m class instead and only one Mescalero was completed. The Zuni was designed in 1975.''Applebay Zuni II''
National Air and Space Museum. Accessed 2010-11-05. Flight testing of the Zuni started in November 1976 and the aircraft was put into production by a new company Applebay formed for the purpose called Aero Tek. The aircraft was quite competitive in 1976 and placed well in regional competitions. A fatal accident, as a result of a structural failure, in May 1977 forced Aero Tek out of business in 1978, but a new company was formed to continue Zuni production, Applebay Sailplanes. The improved Zuni II, with

Kevlar Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s a ...

construction was introduced, but production ended in 1983 after only 20 Zunis in total had been completed, due to the lack of competitiveness of the design by that date and the high

US dollar The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

, that made competition with European imports difficult. The

Applebay Zia The Applebay Zia is an American, single-seat, high-wing, twin-boom, pusher configuration motor glider that was designed by George Applebay for the 1982 Sailplane Homebuilders Association Homebuilt Sailplane Design Contest. The aircraft was int ...

twin-boom

motor glider A motor glider is a fixed-wing aircraft that can be flown with or without engine power. The FAI Gliding Commission Sporting Code definition is: a fixed-wing aerodyne equipped with a means of propulsion (MoP), capable of sustained soaring flight ...

was introduced in 1983 but only four were built, including the prototype. In 2000, George Applebay was inducted into the

Soaring Hall of Fame The Soaring Hall of Fame recognizes individuals who have made the highest achievements in, or contributions to, the sport of soaring in the United States of America. It has been located at the National Soaring Museum in Elmira, New York, since 19 ...

and went on to found the

US Southwest Soaring Museum The US Southwest Soaring Museum is an aviation museum, located at 918 E US Route 66, in Moriarty, New Mexico, United States that focuses on the history of gliding in the western United States. The museum is an affiliate member of the Soaring Societ ...

Moriarty, New Mexico Moriarty is a town in Torrance County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 1,910 at the 2010 Census. It is part of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Moriarty is located at (34.999815, -106.046667). According to ...

, which was conceived in 1995 and opened in 2006. Applebay died in April 2015 at age 89.

Aircraft

References

External links

{{Applebay Sailplanes Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United States Glider manufacturers