Weldon B. Cooke began designing and building flying boats at Sandusky, Ohio, in 1912. His success in California with the Roberts Motor Company engine brought him to Sandusky, Ohio, where the engine was produced. Despite building several successful models of flying boats and tractor biplanes, the "Irene," with its elevated, oversized propeller proved to be a costly design error. Like most early aviators, Cooke used income from flying exhibitions to cover the costs of the trial and error method of designing airplanes.