Weldon B. Cooke's aeroplane 1913 (photo)

pioneer was Weldon B. Cooke, who came here in 1912 from California (Oakland). I would like to cite his history back a little further. In 1911, he flew a plane that was built by a couple of men out there, so he flew it, but the plane went bad. Cooke decided to build a plane of his own, and using a Roberts Motor, made in Sandusky, he broke the altitude record, in January of 1912. He flew a plane of his own design, and then, because he also used Roberts Motors, he again came here and built several planes, down at what was the, the old Lake Erie Dry Dock and Ship Co. (or something like that) located just about where the tower is now, down at Battery Park. He built two planes and for a time he was the same as the rest of us - had to get along as best he could. He used a buggy spring for a shock absorber on a landing gear. He tried it out on the ice, and had fortune and some misfortunes.