| Design | W. Dirks |
| Maiden Flight | 1972 |
| Materials | GFK, Balsa |
| Wingspan | 15 m |
| Wing Area | 11 m² |
| DOW | 210 kg |
| Seats | 1 |
| Remarks | DG-100 Prototype (Company: Glaser-Dirks) |
The D-38 was designed as a single seat, standard class glider with Wilhelm Dirks as chief designer. It was nimble and lightweight though equipped with water tanks if higher speeds were desired. It had also very forgiving flight characteristics to reduce workload in longer flights. In 1970 began the design of the D-38 and just 2 years later was its first flight which turned out as a huge success. As the Idaflieg would later say: “The best glider of standard class!”
The D-38 was Akaflieg Darmstadts showpiece. It became later the prototype of the DG-100 and served as the foundation of the still active D-39. As the years passed though the D-38 would loose its edge and find new purpose in flight-schooling. The flight hours decreased and hard landings would take their toll on the aging airframe. This would result in an ugly break.
The once shining white and orange paintscheme would be replaced by a pure white one. Though as time passed it would also loose its “bling” while scratches and small cracks found their way on the glider. Wear and tear especially in bearings and flight controls became very apparent. At the end of the flightseason in 2014 the wings were taken into the workshop for maintenance since the play had significantly increased. The bearings had to be replaced with new ones. Work on the D-43 – the newest Akaflieg prototype – would postpone the maintenance further.
Only at the end of 2015 flightseason maintenance of the wings on the D-38 would be picked up again. The fuselage was also taken into the workshop to rehaul its flight control elements. The D-38 was designed and built so quickly that no real thought was put in for making the plane more maintance-friendly. Hand-sized holes had to be drilled in the fuselage and wings to access the desired elements. They would be sealed later with filigree shafts.