__NOTOC__ The Akaflieg Darmstadt D-38 is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, single-seat, Standard Class

sailplane A glider or sailplane is a type of glider aircraft used in the leisure activity and sport of gliding (also called soaring). This unpowered aircraft can use naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to gain altitude. Sailplan ...

that was designed and built by the Fliegergruppe of Darmstadt University.

Design

The D-38 is a cantilever,

shoulder-wing A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

with a

glassfibre Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...

/ balsa sandwich shell structure fuselage and wing, the wing has no flaps and has a

T-tail A T-tail is an empennage configuration in which the tailplane is mounted to the top of the fin. The arrangement looks like the capital letter T, hence the name. The T-tail differs from the standard configuration in which the tailplane is ...

. The pilot has a semi-reclining seat in an enclosed

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a Pilot in command, pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the ...

with a transparent canopy and the landing gear is a manual retracting monowheel gear with a tailskid. The D-38 was, in effect, the prototype of the successful

Glaser-Dirks DG-100 The Glaser-Dirks DG-100 is the first sailplane manufactured by Glaser-Dirks. It is a standard class glider designed by Wilhelm Dirks in 1974 and developed from the Akaflieg Darmstadt D-38. Development The first model had an all-flying tailpla ...

competition Standard class glider.

Specifications

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links