The Schneider ES-57 Kingfisher is a low-cost, short-span Australian glider capable of respectable cross country soaring flights.

The Kingfisher, with its 10.5 m (34 ft 5 in) span and simple construction, was designed to fill the need of Australian glider pilots for a small, low-cost aircraft capable of soaring and cross-country flying.

The fuselage tapers aft to the tail, where a narrow, ply-skinned fin carries an angular, fabric-covered rudder which extends down to the keel.

Originally the horizontal tail was mostly fabric-covered and mounted on top of the fuselage ahead of the rudder, but early flight tests led to it being raised out of the wing's wake on a short pillar.

One amateur builder finished his Kingfisher in 1964 and gained attention with his bungee cord self-launches, soaring in the mountains of the Great Dividing Range.