Black Aviator (Pilot) Neil Loving
AvStop
Magazine Online
Blacks In Aviation
Neil Loving
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No person in the arena of private flying demonstrated that
courage and inner force like Neal V. Loving. An aeronautical engineer,
designer/builder and pilot, Loving's courage overcame double tragedy; a
crippling air accident and to a certain extent, racism in an industry not
open to African Americans. A native of Detroit, Michigan, Loving's interest
in aviation came at the age of 10, the result of a losing argument with
his older brother over Neal Loving's right to build an outdoor radio antenna
adjacent to his brother's. During this argument, Neal Loving's attention
turned to a low-flying de Havilland DH-4 biplane, and his brother quickly
suggested that Loving change his interest from radios to aviation. "In
retrospect, my brother really did me a favor; his idea changed the direction
of my life forever," said Neal Loving in his autobiography; Loving's Love.
Loving went from reading all he could get his hands on about aviation
to building model airplanes (the first of which at the time little sister
sat on). Neal Loving built the first of his full-sized airplanes in 1934.
Using articles from Popular Mechanics and Modern Mechanics, he designed
and built an airplane-type ground trainer, made from plywood from a large
furniture packing crate. Loving next designed and built three gliders before
the faithful accident in 1944. On Sunday morning, July 30, 1944, Loving was scheduled to hold a Civil
Air Patrol (CAP) cadet training session. The day before, Loving had found
a loose seat bracket on his glider but was not able to make the necessary
repairs before leaving for his afternoon work shift at the Ford Motor Company
he later returned to the Wayne Aircraft Company to check on the repairs
which were supposed to have been finished by his partner's brother. Loving
worked into the night until 5:00 a.m. before the work was completed. Fatigued
and with two hours of sleep, he returned to the glider shop later that
morning to take the glider to a nearby airport.
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Loving ignored four critical procedures upon arrival at Wings Airport
where the cadets were to do their training: he didn't t check the status
of a poorly- conditioned airfield; didn't have a major portion of the glider
tow rope, which was left in the shop: didn't pay attention to the wind
blowing across the runway meaning a loss of precious altitude while compensating
for lift; and tailed to set the calibrated spring at zero, resulting in
the airspeed indicator registering 10 miles per hour (mph) higher than
actual airspeed.
After being airborne for a time and preparing to return to the airport,
Loving made an 180 degree turn to the left, blocking hiss view of the runway;
which resulted in the glider being pushed off centerline. In his haste,
Loving decided to land on an adjacent runway without inspecting it first.
Upon seeing a rise of two feet high dirt, making landing unsuitable, he
decided to make a course correction to return towards the original runway
"My air-speed indicator indicated a normal 35 mph (actually only 25 mph),
so I increased my bank angle. to get back to the runway;'' he said in his
book. As the necessary control pressure were applied the glider stalled
and immediately entered a left tailspin. The earth whirled furiously around
as I plunged almost vertically towards the `ground....I tried to desperately
recover. Pushing the stick forward with ailerons neutral and full right
rudder stopped the spin, `but now the ground rushed up to meet me before
the glider could level off," he said. Diving into the ground, Loving's
craft broke apart, crushing both his feet.
Loving would be rushed to a hospital where he would spend six plus months,
losing a portion of both legs in the process. However, it would not be
long after his discharge from the medical facility that Loving would return
to flying. A year later (1945) Loving, along with a business associate,
Earsly Taylor, would form the Wayne School of Aeronautics at Detroit City
Airport to teach returning Black war veterans the art of flying. And, a
year after that Loving began plans For building his first airplane. On
New- Year's Day of 1949 thc race r, W12-1, began being built. An inverted
gull-wing design, the racer took to the air on a cool, sunny morning in
early August of 1950. Loving would enter the racer, dubbed "Loving's Love",
in races during 1951 and then take it on travels throughout the United
States and Jamaica. Neal Loving would later close the: Wayne School and become an aeronautical
engineer at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in the Air Force Wright Aeronautical
Laboratories, Flight Dynamics Laboratory. He would retire some 21 years
later.
To read more about the life of Neil Loving, obtain a copy of Loving's
autobiography entitled "Loving's Love; A Black American's Experience in
Aviation", published by the Smithsonian Institution Press in Washington,
D.C.
