Gordon Yaeger

Gordon R. Yaeger (1927-2005) piloted the Bell Rocket Belt at the 1964 New York City World Fair and in the James Bond movie Thunderball, The Reluctant Astronaut Fearturing Don Knotts. He also performed in Gilligans Island and Lost in Space, where he piloted the rocket belt among others throughout his career.. He was born on May 5, 1927. He worked for Bell Aircraft Corporation in Wheatfield, New York. He died in Buffalo Hospice in Cheektowaga aged 77 after a long illness on January 23, 2005. He left behind his wife Nancy, 8 Children and 15 Grandchildren[1]

Yaeger attended Burgard High School in Buffalo, New York, before attending the University at Buffalo and UCLA. He moved his family to Amherst, New York in 1955. In 2008, the Town of Amherst named a street after him.[2]