[1] Applebay started the Chiricahua as a standard class sailplane in 1959, but the aircraft was not completed for 11 years, first flying in 1970.

The aircraft is made from wood and covered in a combination of plywood and doped Ceconite.

Its 15 m (49.2 ft) span wing employs a Göttingen 549 airfoil and features Schempp-Hirth style top surface airbrakes.

[1] On 7 July 1974 at New River, Arizona the prototype, N9413, was involved in an accident and substantially damaged.

The aircraft was on a soaring flight, ran out of lift, made an attempted landing on a road in a 20 kn (37 km/h) crosswind and struck a tree.