California aviator Weldon B. Cooke teamed up with E. W. Roberts of the Roberts Motor Company, Frank Frey, James Flynn, Sr., and James Flynn, Jr. to found the Cooke Aeroplane Company.

 

Weldon B. Cooke, an early pioneer who taught himself to fly in a Curtiss pusher, started construction of a flying boat project in California.

 

After he left Sandusky to assist Benoist with the St.Petersburg-Tampa Air Boat Line, Cooke was killed during an exhibition flight in 1914.