George E. Yager

GEORGE E. YAGER
-1953
AKA George Yeager

GEO. E. YAGER
Member of The
Early Birds
Contributed by Rick Murcek, 1-10-11

HISTORY OF AIR
SHIP COMET
Was made in Omaha, nebr. by George E. Yager and Otto and Charles Baysdorfer in 1906. Bag is made of 1000 yds. of silk -- 60 ft. long -- 15 ft. across. A 4 inch mesh cotton net in over the bag with stringers tied to the frame. Frame is 40 ft. long, made of s pruce and piano wire -- tail is 6 x 8 ft. -- 6 ft. propeller, -- 8 horsepower air cooled engine. Rider walks fo\rward to come down, backwards to go up. Bag holds 10,000 cubic ft. of hydrogen gas. Tent to house the airship was 70 x 30 ft. Made many flights in the western part of the country including the Ak-Sar-Ben celebration.

Contributed by Rick Murcek, 1-10-11

AND MORE YET! Since the last Chirp 11 more have entered the sacred portals and still others are suffering microscopic examination by the membership committee. Messrs. Kabitzke, Upson and Wood were on hand at the air race reunion and dinner. The following were endorsed by the committee and approved by the trustees as of August 24, 1938;
George E. Yeager, president Omaha Reed-Rattan Company, did not mess with the free gas bag---he went plump into the air with the Comet airship, in 1906. Horace Wild flew this ship in the airship races at the St. Louis balloon races in 1907. After that Bayersdorfer and Yeager toured the western fairs.
from CHIRP - MARCH 1, 1939 - DEARBORN, MICHIGAN. - NUMBER 23.
courtesy of Steve Remington - CollectAir

AIRSHIP ROOF LANDING GEORGE E. YEAGER recently visited Bloomington, Ill., to search for the newspaper record of his earlier exploits and the local paper promptly gave him display space. It seems that on September 14, 1910, he landed his airship on the roof of the Klemm department store in Bloomington, some two miles from the fair grounds. After proper ceremonies and pictures he took off again and made the fair grounds as usual. Seems like a race of the oldtime airships might be a spectacular stunt for the next air races . . . imagine the Shell Comet racing the Esso Sonic Barrier or the Pure Oil Lubricator!
from CHIRP, APRIL 1, 1950 - NUMBER 43
courtesy of Steve Remington - CollectAir

ONLINE RESOURCES If you search for "George E. Yager" +aviation , using the Google search engine, (1-10-11), you will find about four links. Perhaps the most helpful is the following.

Airship visited Bloomington in 1910 By Bill Kemp | Archivist/historian, McLean County Museum of History
"BLOOMINGTON -- For Bloomington, the age of aviation arrived on Sept. 14, 1910, exactly 99 years ago on Monday.
On that date, a one-man airship sailed over the city, drawing astonished crowds wherever it passed. The Pantagraph hailed the flight as the first made by a "controllable aircraft" in Bloomington."

COMET PHOTOGRAPHS
Contributed by Rick Murcek, 1-11-11 Here are some more pictures...

http://www.earlyaeroplanes.com/archive/DS/DS461.1907.Comet.Baldwin4.Strobel.jpg
http://www.earlyaeroplanes.com/archive/airships01/1907.10.23_airshipComet_St.Louis.jpg
http://www.earlyaeroplanes.com/archive/airships01/1907.10.23.B-Y.Comet.St.Louis.jpg
http://www.earlyaeroplanes.com/archive/airships01/1907.10.23_airshipComet_geh.org.jpg
http://www.earlyaeroplanes.com/archive/airships01/1907.B-Y.Comet.county.fair.jpg

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
via email from Thomas J. Nagorski, 6-14-06 Good Morning --
I have a half dozen negatives of an early air show. Visible in a few frames is the airship Comet. I have always wondered about the history of this craft - thanks for the info on your fine site.
Is there more detail regarding the flights and tour history of Comet? I suspected that these prints were taken in Montana, but that may not be the case.
Happy (con)trails -- Tom
Thomas J. Nagorski, CFI-AS&ME/IA/G
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PARAGON AIR ADVENTURES, LLC
34 Gallatin Field + Belgrade Montana 59714
U.S.A. 406/388-4158 + Fax 388-7417

George E. Yeager died in 1953
From The Early Birds of Aviation
Roster of Members
January 1, 1996

Editor's Note:
If you have any more information on this Early Bird,
please contact me.
E-mail to Ralph Cooper

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