All About Plank Racing
Plank Racing is unique to Cowra Oily Hand Diesel day. Its genesis was back on April 14th 2010 when Mat Robson discovered on a Saturday evening he desperately needed a control line model to fly on Sunday. So out to Paul Farthing’s workshop at ‘Bogwood’ he went, raiding Paul’s balsa box. After a frenetic evenings work and a squirt of orange paint as dawn approached, the result was the ugliest and most ungainly looking aeroplane you ever set eyes on. But out at ‘Milroy’ Field on that sunny Sunday morning it flew, and flew surprisingly well for two planks of wood clapped together in youthful haste. Fortunately we did not take a photo of that first ‘plank’ as it was affectionately christened.
“Here Andy, you have a fly” said Mat. Inside I did not really want to have a go at Mat’s awkward creation. Although, it was reminiscent of the attempts of my childhood with fence palings levered from the housing commission fence that separated us from the neighbours and powered by my trusty Taipan Mk7. Anyway, not wanting to offend Mat, I stood intrepidly out in the centre, Aeroflyte nylon in hand, as Mat cranked up the OS 20 he had also borrowed from Paul. Round and round and up and down it went till the fuel petered out. Much to my surprise I found myself hankering for a second go.
This time, at the urging of Mat and Ian, a couple of loops. No worries, so why not a lazy eight or two. Same result the damn thing was capable of that too. By this time I was warming to it and my enthusiasm knew no bounds. If it does lazy eights then surely outside loops are within it’s compass – No they were not! Smack! Into the ground and broke in two. “Not a problem” says Mat “that’s what super glue is for”.
Little did the three of us realise we were about to have revealed to us the secret hidden inside every plank ………… they fly better once they have been broken and repaired. Do I hear “No No No Andy that is impossible, it works against the laws of aeromodelling”. “Ah” I says “think about the philosophy of it. When you were a kid you crashed your aeroplane most weekends and had to pay homage to the great god aralditeies through the week. All planks know this and the disappointment and tears of a youngster when their Aeroflyte Kittyhawk met its demise. So as a reward for aeromodelling persistance and resilience, all Planks, being from the same mother (the scrap balsa box), know to fly better once they have been glued back together.
And that is the true story of the Plank.
Now, as the Sunday of Oily hand 2010 came to a close Mat and Andy snuck out with the Plank for a quick fly supposing no one would notice and they could avoid embarrassment. Alas, Phil Poole would not go home until he saw it fly. Phil was so inspired when he beheld multiple figure eights that he thought we should race them next Oily Hand. “OHNNSSPR (Oily Hand Nippy Nude Stunt Speed Plank Racing)” he said it should be called ” When you fly the model you can’t wear clothes, only boots” he said. “You’re a froot loop Pooley” we said. “You have to do aerobatics and fly fast” he said. “It’s not a combat model” we said. “It could be if you wanted to be” he said. ‘Go home Pooley” we said.
So we all went home.
I went to bed and woke up in the middle of the night with an unholy aeromodelling vision. Lots and lots of planks zooming round and round and up and down. Pooley wasn’t such a front loop after all. It had to be done. So up I get in the middle of the night, armed with a hot mug of tea, and composed the OHNNSSPR rules.
Before Mat and Andy could destroy the plank Coley took it away from them. “Why did you do that” they said. “So I can measure it and draw the plan before you two break it into a thousand tiny pieces and no one remembers how to make any more” he replied. “OK then Coley, you know best” they said. And he always does know best. So Coley drew the plan and here it is. Plank original diagram
Mat and Andy didn’t end up destroying the plank. It had to be retired because Mat didn’t bother to use engine bearers, he figured he could just bolt the engine to two bits of ply facing. It did work but not forever and that original plank became so oil soaked the engine kept falling off. So Mat built a new you beaut plank with proper engine bearers and paint. Andy wasn’t allowed to fly that one so he had to build his own. Mat likes to embellish the truth and maintains the rats ate the old plank, engine and all. But I know better.
This is what a Cowra Plank looks like
The first plank race was in 2011. As well as have rules you have to have some way to work out who won the race. Well, it’s not really a race because only one model flies at a time. It’s a bit like a cross between speed and aerobatics but with the skill level of the average Sunday flier. These are the rules. Plank Racing Rules – generic You will notice that these rules also include what Is known as Super Plank rules which grew out of the original Cowra Plank Racing. You can find all about it here. https://cowramac.com/index.php/2024/08/01/super-plank-racing/
The rules for the Cowra Plank are deliberately brief so that if you want you can build something other than the model described above. Having said that most build a version that looks like the original because the event is primarily to have fun and a good laugh rather than go all out competition and win. Please remember that above all Plank Racing’s origins go back to kids going out in the back paddock and flying whatever model they had on hand.