what is it?
The Applebay Zuni and Zuni II are single-seat, water-ballasted gliders designed to compete in the FAI 15m class. In February 2015 the New Mexico State Legislature named the Zuni the Official State Glider.
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 50 years ago, in 1976.
- Top speed is 1.9× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 15 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
no engine: No engine: it glides on rising air.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1976-11
- number built
- 20
- role
- glider
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- makers
- Applebay Sailplanes
- engines
- none (glider)
- crew
- 1
- passengers
- 1
- length
- 6.6 m
- wingspan
- 15 m
- height
- 1.5 m
- max take-off weight
- 544 kg
- top speed
- 246 km/h
- range
- —
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q572208, Wikipedia: Applebay Zuni (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.