Warbird Information Exchange

I'm just curious how many people here have heard of Neal and know his special place in the history of aviation. The man is a personal hero of mine and I am constantly surprised how many curators, docents, guides, employees, or what have you at the many aviation museums I visit that have never heard of him.

I am fortunate in that I have been around two of his designs. One was a replica of Loving's Love at the Sun-N-Fun museum where I volunteered one summer. The second is in Auburn, Indiana (I live in Fort Wayne, now) where one of his planes actually resides.

If you are not familiar with him, I would suggest reading up on him. You'll enjoy the story...

Most air racing guys know who he is and his neat little inverted gull design.
Chris...

It's nice to find a place that actually has.

This is a 3d model I did of Loving's Love for a project a while back. Such a beautiful plane...





And a version of the one in Lakeland...

Here is his autobiography:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images ... 55&s=books

One of his aircraft is also displayed in the EAA Museum at Oshkosh. Which Museum in Auburn has one?

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

The Hoosier Air Museum in Auburn Indiana has the WR-3, which is one of his roadable designs. They're not a big museum and their collection barely fills a hanger, but it's a good collection and fun to visit.

Hoosier Air Museum

Thanks for link!

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I remember seeing the blue one in the museum at Hale's Corners.

Steve

Back in the sixties, I read an article in Sport Aviation about Mr. Loving that left me filled with admiration for his courage. And I was quite taken with the sleek look of the Loving's Love racer. (Great models, Wing Nut!)

In the mid 1990s, I spotted an article in Air and Space Magazine that described a talk he gave to the NASM, along with a review of his autobiography, also called "Loving's Love." I immediately ordered a copy of the book. Once again, I found myself overwhelmed by his courage, brilliance, and modesty.

Here is an excerpt of a short talk of his:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gci6nXpbS2c

I've always felt that in the hands of a proper production team, his story could be turned into a killer HBO or Showtime miniseries.

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The main winding was of the normal lotus-o deltoid type placed in panendermic semi-bolloid slots of the stator. Every seventh conductor being connected by a non-reversible tremmy pipe to the differential girdle spring on the up-end of the grammeters. Moreover, whenever fluorescent square motion is required, it may also be employed in conjunction with the drawn reciprocation dingle arm, to reduce sinusoidal depleneration.

That's a pretty little aircraft. Like a civilian Corsair on steroids.

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"I knew the jig was up when I saw the P-51D-20-NA Mustang blue-nosed bastards from Bodney, and by the way the blue was more of a royal blue than an indigo and the inner landing gear interiors were NOT green, over Berlin."

I have the remains of one being converted to a sim cockpit.

Neal Loving had no legs, and it really shows in the cockpit <G>

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Lest Hero-worship raise it's head and cloud our vision, remember that World War II was fought and won by the same sort of twenty-something punks we wouldn't let our daughters date.

Oddly enough I can't find him on Wikipedia. One of you guys should add a page for him. I would but I honestly don't know enough about the man to do it. Anybody up to it? Obviously he deserves a page there if anyone does.

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"I knew the jig was up when I saw the P-51D-20-NA Mustang blue-nosed bastards from Bodney, and by the way the blue was more of a royal blue than an indigo and the inner landing gear interiors were NOT green, over Berlin."

The Loving-Wayne WR-3 has recently arrived at the NASM restoration building at Udvar-Hazy, apparently transferred from the Hoosier Air Museum.

An interesting addition, and worthy accession for NASM. Neal Loving had a long aviation history. Lost his legs in a 1944 glider crash (military?), was flying again a year later. Well known in racing circles, with an earlier design in the Innovations Gallery at the EAA Museum.

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Kevin McCartney

There is a good short biography on Neal Loving here: https://libraries.wright.edu/special/collectionguides/files/ms282.pdf
(he lost his legs during a CAP training flight, in a glider of his own design)

There is a Wiki page for the WR-1 in EAA museum: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loving_WR-1_Love

Very interesting guy.

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Kevin McCartney