In the 50's, Goodyear Aerospace & Tire Co. sponsored a low cost form of air racing using a set of specifications for the aircraft that made for very competitive racing using the mandatory 85 HP Continental engines, which could be heavily modified. That class is now known as F1. The racers were popular and virtually all were amateur built. In this atmosphere many pilots decided to join in with their own designs. Neil Loving, of Yellow Springs, Ohio, did just that.

Loving was an engineer, a glider and power pilot. He was also African American and lost both his legs in a glider accident. He collaborated with the Wayne School of Aernautics to design and build a unique racer for the Goodyear events. He planned an all wood aircraft with low inverted gull wing that minimized the landing gear protruding from the craft and lowered drag. The plane was raced throughout the fifties with mixed results and the original Lovings Love aircraft (N351C) is now displayed at the EAA Museum at Oshkosh WI.

A few builders built replicas of Neil's design, notably George Rattray and Don Johnson of Dallas Texas, and Lee Omernik of Florida. The only currently flying Love is owned by Pat Halloran (N100PH) and is powered with a 100 HP Continental O-200 so performance is exceptional with normal cruise close to 10 MPH higher than the original 85 HP aircraft. Span is 20 feet and length of 17 feet 2 inches. Weight is about 630 pounds empty, and it carries 15 gallons of fuel.

Since it was designed for short races, the seat is very upright and not very comfortable. Neil reported that on long distance flights he would remove his false legs for more comfort, replacing them for landing. This aircraft might make a nice sport plane at 1/4 scale which would give about 600 square inches of wing area. The original was painted a pleasing maroon and cream with black numbers. Pat Halloran’s plane is all red with a blue stripe trimmed in white. Excellent pictures are available in the EAA magazine Sport Aviation, April 1998. The layout includes cockpit details.