Kiwithrottlejockey
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« Reply #350 on: September 12, 2014, 12:53:20 pm » |
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from The Southland Times....Wanaka pilot dies in Reno raceBy CHE BAKER | 5:00AM - Friday, 12 September 2014Lee Behel at the 2012 Reno Air Races.A JET PILOT who competed at the first Gigatown Wanaka jet race has been killed in a plane crash in Nevada.
San Francisco jet pilot Lee Behel, 62, who was a guest racer at this year's Warbirds Over Wanaka event, died after the single-engine experimental GP5 jet he owned crashed at the Reno national championship air races on Tuesday. The CBS 13 news station in Sacramento reported the plane Behel was flying fell apart in the air, as it was flying low through an obstacle course during the qualifying stage of the championships.
Warbirds Over Wanaka general manager Ed Taylor said Behel's death was a shock.
“Lee was a top pilot, a great ambassador for his country and a thoroughly nice guy. He told me that racing at Warbirds Over Wanaka was one of the best times he had had during his long aviation career.”
“I have been in touch with the other US pilots who raced here earlier this year and they are of course still coming to terms with the fact that Lee is no longer with us.”
Behel was a retired air force pilot and recorded two world records as part of the Nevada Air National Guard.
When speaking with The Southland Times at Warbirds, Behel said he began his jet racing career at the first ever jet race at the Reno championships.
“It's very exhilarating. It demands of lot of concentration and skill,” he said.
Jet racing is expected to return to the 2016 Warbirds Over Wanaka event.http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/10483950/Wanaka-pilot-dies-in-Reno-race
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