The ASK 16 was designed by Rudolf Kaiser for production by Alexander Schleicher GmbH & Co of Furth, Germany.

The aircraft is of welded tube, wood and fabric construction and has a low-set high-aspect-ratio wing.

The standard powerplant is a 72 hp (54 kW) Limbach L1700 driving a Hoffman variable-pitch propeller.

[1] The prototype first flew on 2 February 1971 and a total of 44 aircraft were built for operation by clubs and private owners.

[1] Most of the completed aircraft remained in active service in 2005, including examples flying in Germany, Ireland, Italy, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.