Source
Clarence F. Lee – Model Engine Maestro
His identify synonymous with RC engines, Clarence Lee was an icon of the RC aviation interest.
Left: Here is only a small instance of a few of the engines in Clarence’s private assortment.
Right: Clarence holds one in all his Lee 45 #001 engines. Incidentally, the photograph on the wall is of Clarence Lee and a P-51 he flew.
Engine builder, tuner, and competitor
Born in Los Angeles in 1923, Clarence grew up in Glendale, California. He constructed his first mannequin on the age of seven and entered the world of powered plane on the age of 14. He labored for a yr doing odd jobs in order that he might purchase an unassembled 1938 Bunch Mighty Midget. After graduating from highschool in 1941, he began work at Vega Aircraft Corporation (a division of Lockheed Aircraft Company). Clarence entered the Army Air Corps as an aviation cadet trainee in December 1942. He had flight time on a variety of plane, together with a PT-19, AT-10, B-25, P-38, and P-51. Clarence was assigned to the China, Burma, and India theater, the place he piloted C-47s and C-46s for the fight cargo group flying the “Hump”—the Himalayas—from Burma to varied airfields in China. In 1946, he was discharged from lively responsibility and returned to the United States, however he remained within the Army Air Corps Reserve for 7 1/2 years. Once again on American soil, Clarence married his spouse, Peggy. Pilots who had returned from the struggle a yr earlier had crammed all of the business piloting jobs. So Clarence raised sufficient cash, by cashing in some struggle bonds, to hire a constructing in Tujunga, California, and opened a floral enterprise, the place he and his spouse labored for a number of years.
While in lively service, Clarence began flying control-line fashions and continued till about 1956. After taking over distant management, Clarence was not pleased with the ability and efficiency
of the present engines accessible for RC use. Because of this, he designed and constructed his first Lee .45 engine only for RC planes in 1959. Clarence’s custom-made Lee engines grew to become an on the spot success and had been utilized by most of the high sample fliers on the time. Clarence offered the rights to Veco Products, and the engine grew to become the Veco .45. After that, Clarence was commissioned by Veco to design a variety of engines, together with the Veco .19, .61, and .35.
Clarence recurrently participated in sample competitions for about 10 years however grew uninterested in the fixed practising required to be aggressive. But Clarence discovered his calling when the brand new Formula I Pylon racing began. His first racing workforce was along with his good pal Wayne Wainwright, and later he teamed up along with his son, Jack Lee.
We all respect the data and sensible recommendation Clarence gave us in his “Engine Clinic” column, which ran for a few years in Model Airplane News after RCM ceased publication. He was a real RC icon.