[9] The first customer delivery was made on 16 October 1980 to Al Freedy of Hinckley Soaring, Schweizer's dealer in Chicago, where it was employed as a rental aircraft.

[10] The pitot tube is installed in the nose air intake, which gives it good protection during ground handling.

The elevators and divebrakes hook up automatically on assembly, but the ailerons require the manual insertion of pins.

Flight testing did note that the 1-36 has a tendency to oscillate in pitch while on aero-tow, but this was easily controlled by the pilot with practice.

Its robust and durable aluminum construction should make it an attractive sailplane for clubs, sport fliers, and one-design-class advocates.

[10]As a result of the low numbers produced, the 1-36 did not find a following as a one-design competition class, but it remains popular as a club, rental and personal glider.

[2][6][14] Schweizer Aircraft modified the Sprite's horizontal stabilizer to allow it to produce an elevator angle of up to 70 degrees.

[14] During September and October 1983 NASA flew the test program with the SGS 1-36, to demonstrate whether a piloted aircraft could be controlled in flight at very high angles of attack.

[14] The program results showed that the Sprite could be safely controlled at angles of attack of 30 to 72 degrees and at high rates of descent.