6 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. ASW20-HDL: TSRL· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 2. ASW-20-CL-landing: Jeroenvink· CC BY 3.0
- 3. ZS-GNK-Centrair-ASW20: MilborneOne· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 4. ASW20-CL: Jeroen Vink· CC BY 3.0
- 5. Piper PA-25 Pawnee towing a Schleicher ASW20L at Milfield - panoramio: tormentor4555· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 6. Schleicher ASW 20 front: humptybumps· CC BY 2.0
what is it?
The ASW 20 is an FAI 15 metre Class glider designed by Gerhard Waibel and built by Alexander Schleicher GmbH & Co. Its fuselage is nearly identical to that of the ASW 19, mated to newly designed flapped wings for the 15 metre Class. The prototype first flew in 1977.
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 49 years ago, in 1977.
- Top speed is 2.2× 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
- 1977-01-27
- introduced
- 1977
- number built
- 905
- role
- 15 metre or sports class sailplane
- origin
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- makers
- SA Centrair, Alexander Schleicher GmbH & Co
- engines
- none (glider)
- crew
- 1
- passengers
- 1
- length
- 6.8 m
- wingspan
- 15 m
- height
- 1.5 m
- max take-off weight
- 525 kg
- top speed
- 280 km/h
- range
- —
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q622931, Wikipedia: Schleicher ASW 20 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.