The Flying Plank was a small glider developed in the USA in 1954 by Al Backstrom, assisted by Phil Easley and Jack Powell.

It was an attempt to combine minimum size and easy construction with reasonable performance.

As long as its Centre of Gravity was carefully positioned, it was very stable, impossible to stall, and could even be looped.

Glide ratio 20:1, sink rate 1.07 m/sec, gross weight 159 kg.

Plans for the 1A version were sold and a number built by amateurs, most with twin wingtip rudders. Except for the fiberglass nose cap for the fuselage, standard wood structure was used throughout, and construction time for an experience woodworker was in the neighborhood of 600 hours. The kit could be bought for $1100.

More than 150 sets of plans were sold, but it is reported that only 16 were built.

There are the remains of three Planks still in existence in Australia:

• One with the Australian Gliding Museum;
• The remains of one in Melbourne, Vic;
• This one in the Aviation Heritage Museum, Bull Creek, WA, which was scratch-built and donated by Mr C K Gentle.