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The Weldon B. Cooke Collection consists of newspaper articles and photographs relating to Cooke and the various aircraft he built or flew, including the Diamond, Wiseman-Cook, Sandusky Tractor, and Aeromaid aircraft. There are also severala few broadsides from events Cooke participated in, along with a program and ticket from the "3rd International Aviation Meet, 1912."
Weldon B. Cooke (1884-1914) was a flying pioneer involved in aviation as a pilot, mechanic, and builder. Cooke graduated from the California School of Mechanical Arts and the College of Electrical Engineering, University of California. In 1910, he built a Montgomery-type glider, and during the summer of 1911 he taught himself to fly in a Curtiss-type biplane: the Diamond. In this aircraft, Cooke became involved with exhibition flying and participated in several air meets, including the 1912 Los Angeles meet. Cooke soon become involved in building aircraft, beginning with his rework of an aircraft which had been built by Ben Noonan, Don Prentiss, and Fred Wiseman: the "Wiseman-Cooke." In this aircraft, Cooke participated in exhibition flying and carried the first official mail at Eureka, CA in 1912. Late in 1912, he left the exhibition flying business to form the Weldon B. Cooke Aeroplane Company in Sandusky, Ohio, where he built a Tractor Biplane Flying Boat. He left Ohio to assist with the operation of the Benoist Company's early St. Petersburg-Tampa passenger air-boat line. He returned to his Sandusky company in 1914, but the company soon became bankrupt. Cooke then returned to California, where he become involved with Silas Christofferson's airline between Oakland and San Francisco, piloting the Christofferson Flying Boat, Aeromaid. Following his time with Christofferson, Cooke returned to exhibition flying, and died in 1914 during an exhibition flight held at the Pueblo Colorado Fair Grounds.
NASM.1998.0001
Cooke, Weldon B., 1884-1914
1911-1948
bulk 1911-1914
Almarose Cooke Worden, gift, 1997, 1998-0001.
0.45 Cubic feet ((1 legal document box))
National Air and Space Museum Archives
This collection consists of newspaper articles and photographs relating to Cooke and the various aircraft he built or flew, including the Diamond, Wiseman-Cook, Sandusky Tractor, and Aeromaid aircraft. There are also a few broadsides from events Cooke participated in, along with a program and ticket from the "3rd International Aviation Meet, 1912." Note: The digital images in this finding aid were repurposed from scans made by an outside contractor for a commercial product and may show irregular cropping and orientation in addition to color variations resulting from damage to and deterioration of the original objects.
The Weldon B. Cooke Collection is arranged by content type.
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Weldon B. Cooke Collection, Acc. 1998.0001, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Diamond mines and mining
Cooke Aircraft Family
Aeronautics
Aeronautics -- Exhibitions
Air mail service
Aeronautics, Commercial -- United States
Christofferson Aircraft Family
Wiseman-Peters #2 Biplane
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Publications
Photographs