Wesley "Lee" Behel was an American aviator and

air racing Air racing is a type of motorsport that involves airplanes or other types of aircraft that compete over a fixed course, with the winner either returning the shortest time, the one to complete it with the most points, or to come closest to a prev ...

champion. He was the creator and, at the time of his death the president, of the "Sport Class" a group of racing airplanes designed for planes under 1000 cubic inches in size that participate in the

Reno Air Races The Reno Air Races, officially known as the STIHL National Championship Air Races from 2016, is a multi-day event tailored to the aviation community that takes place each September at the Reno Stead Airport a few miles north of Reno, Nevada. A ...

each year in September, as well as a retired Lt. Colonel in the

Nevada Air National Guard The Nevada Air National Guard is the aerial militia of the State of Nevada, United States of America. Along with the Nevada Army National Guard, it is an element of the Nevada National Guard. The units of the Nevada Air National Guard are not in ...

. Behel joined the Nevada Air National Guard in 1972, where he flew several aircraft, including the

F-101 Voodoo The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo is a supersonic jet fighter which served the United States Air Force (USAF) and the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Initially designed by McDonnell Aircraft Corporation as a long-range bomber escort (known as a ''p ...

, the

F4 Phantom The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and Bowe ...

in which he accumulated 2,500 hours of flight time, as well as the RF-4C reconnaissance aircraft. He retired from the Guard in 1996. In 2000, he first flew in the AirVenture Cup Race, a cross-country open-circuit air race, with his ten-year-old son Jay on board. He would fly that race fifteen straight years. On 8 September 2014, Behel perished while flying '' Sweet Dreams'', a custom built one of a kind aircraft that was powered by a

Chevrolet small-block engine Chevrolet small-block engine refers to one of a number of gasoline-powered vehicle engines manufactured by the General Motors company. These include: * The III, IV, V generation of LS-based GM engines. * The I, II generation of non-LS Chevrolet ...

that had been adapted for use in this specific aircraft. The crash took place in the north end of the race course when the plane Behel was flying suffered a "catastrophic mechanical failure" at 3:16 p.m. According to witnesses, the aircraft took off and flew to enter the course. Around the 5th outer pylon, in an area of the course known as "High-G Ridge", sections of the right wing broke away from the airplane, which then rolled sharply to the right and impacted the ground. The aircraft was estimated to be traveling nearly and was no more than off the ground when the failure occurred. The crash occurred during a qualifying heat early in the 2014 Reno Air Race program and will be investigated by the

NTSB The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incid ...

as well as the

FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

. Behel was a certified fighter jet pilot who also enjoyed flying high-performance single-engine race planes. Behel had once owned Steven's Creek Porsche/Audi in Santa Clara, a business that he had sold in 2012. In April 2014, Behel had set three class world records in the same aircraft: Speed over a course, 3 km time-to-climb, and speed over a course. Additionally, at the time of his death he held the world speed records for the RF-4C in 100 and 500 km closed courses.

References

External links

Profile of Lee Behel

AirVenture Cup Race
{{DEFAULTSORT:Behel, Lee 2014 deaths American air racers American aviation record holders Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Sports deaths in Nevada Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 2014