Air Ship

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• BEAUTIFUL AIRSHIP FLIGHT. HORACE WILD ASCENDS AGAIN IN THE COMET BEFORE THOUSANDS.Horace Wild and the Bayeradorfer-Yager airship made good again yesterday afternoon. The Comet appeared for her second flight shortly before 6 o'clock and after some preliminary tinkering with the engine, she got away in good shape. Wild headed out toward the lake and then swooped back over Houghton. He went west a block or two and then did a figure eight around St. Ignatius Church spire. The weather conditions were ideal yesterday, but the engine was in trouble due to poor gasoline and Wild remained up only 6 minutes. He attained an altitude of a little better than 280 feet.The descent was spectacular as when the aviator decided to come down he darted toward the earth like a kite and was received by the waiting hands of the crowd, righting the ship to an even keel as he struck. This landing was as light as that of a toy balloon and it was greeted with loud cheering.Wild and George Yager are more than pleased that they have been able to get away twice in the Houghton atmospheric conditions, which are pretty breezy and mightily cold in the upper air. They will not attempt flights in a wind of much more than 5 miles per hour and would cheerfully have kept the ship under canvass all week had not the wind abated. [Daily Mining Gazette Article September 25, 1909.]
2/15/2010 10:28:24 AM by Christine Holland, Archives