This definitive history of McCook Field describes how McCook became the Cradle of Aviation by nurturing the fledgling aviation industry of pre-World War I into a major business sector in the post-war world. Established in 1917 as the first United States military aviation research and development center after the country entered World War I, McCook’s greatest impact addressed the problems uncovered during the conflict, then proceeded to adapt the airplane to the peacetime world. Hardcover. 390 Pages.