Samuel Franklin Cody Samuel Franklin Cody Samuel Franklin Cowdery (later known as Samuel Franklin Cody; 6 March 1867 – 7 August 1913, born Davenport, Iowa, USA) was a Wild West showman and early pioneer of manned flight. He is most famous for his work on the large kites known as "Cody War-Kites", that were used by the British in World War I as a smaller alternative to balloons for artillery spotting. He was also the first man to fly an aeroplane in Britain, on 16 October 1908. A flamboyant showman, he was often confused with Buffalo Bill Cody, whose surname he took when
Commando Cody Commando Cody Commando Cody is the hero in two 12-chapter science fiction serials made by Republic Pictures, played by George Wallace in 1952's "Radar Men from the Moon" and Judd Holdren in 1953's "". Another 12-chapter Rocket Man movie serial, "Zombies of the Stratosphere", was written as the direct sequel to "Radar Men from the Moon". But the name of the serial's main character was changed from Commando Cody to the more prosaic "Larry Martin" at the start of shooting. This lead character renaming happened after footage shot for the first three episodes of Republic's proposed science fiction syndicated television