Lee Behel

Lee Behel
Born
Wesley Behel

(1950-10-31)October 31, 1950
California, US
DiedSeptember 8, 2014(2014-09-08) (aged 63)
Reno, Nevada, U.S.
Cause of deathAircraft crash due to structural failure
Organization(s)President, Sport Class Aviation
Known forRacing aircraft

Wesley "Lee" Behel Jr (31 October, 1950 - 8 September, 2014) was an American aviator and air racing champion.[1] He was the creator and, at the time of his death, the president of the "Sport Class",[2] a group of racing airplanes designed for planes under 1000 cubic inches in engine size that participate in the Reno Air Races every September, as well as a retired Lt. Colonel in the Nevada Air National Guard.[3]

Behel joined the Nevada Air National Guard in 1972, where he flew several aircraft, including the F-101 Voodoo, the F4 Phantom in which he accumulated 2,500 hours of flight time, as well as the RF-4C reconnaissance aircraft.[4] He reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in April 1993.[5] He retired from the Guard in 1996.

Behel was a certified fighter jet pilot who also enjoyed flying high-performance single-engine race planes.[1] Behel had once owned Steven's Creek Porsche/Audi in Santa Clara, a business that he had sold in 2012.[6]

  1. ^ a b Jack Kane; EPI Inc. "GP-5: Successful V8-Powered Reno Racer".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ "Lee Behel - Sport Class Air Racing". Sport Class Air Racing.
  3. ^ Cheryl Goodson. "Reno Championship Air Races - Updated Statement from the National Championship Air Races". Archived from the original on 2014-11-16. Retrieved 2014-10-19.
  4. ^ "Reno Crash Claims Pilot Lee Behel". eaa.org. Experimental Aircraft Association. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  5. ^ ncs-import. "'Pilot's pilot' killed in crash remembered". www.nevadaappeal.com. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
  6. ^ "San Jose's Sports Class Pilot Lee Behel involved in fatal accident during National Championship Air Races at Reno-Stead Airport". ABC7 San Francisco.