what is it?
The ASW 28 is a Standard Class glider with a fifteen-metre span built of modern fibre reinforced composites. The manufacturer of the ASW-28 is Alexander Schleicher GmbH & Co. The 'W' indicates this is a design of the influential and prolific German designer Gerhard Waibel.
How to recognise it: 1 engine · 15 m wingspan
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 26 years ago, in 2000.
- Top speed is 2.1× 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
- 2000
- number built
- 144
- role
- standard-class sailplane
- origin
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- makers
- Alexander Schleicher GmbH & Co
- engines
- none (glider)
- length
- 6.6 m
- wingspan
- 15 m
- height
- 1.3 m
- max take-off weight
- 525 kg
- top speed
- 270 km/h
- range
- —
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q445098, Wikipedia: Schleicher ASW 28 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.