During World War I, the British aircraft program expanded rapidly from 200 aircraft in 1914 to 30,782 in 1918.  Until plywood and aluminum came into use, the normal material for the outer skin of aircraft was a heavy woven textile coated with ‘dope’ that imparted tautness, wind-resistance, and weather-proofing.  The extreme flammability of nitrocellulose dopes spurred interest in alternatives, including cellulose acetate, but the technology was immature.  At the beginning of the war, no soluble cellulose acetate had been produced commercially in Britain outside of the laboratory.  Coleman’s article chronicles the contentious development of soluble cellulose acetate for aircraft in Britain, which came to be known as the Dope Scandal and relates to subsequent commercial production of cellulose acetate fibers in Britain, the United States, and Canada.  An interesting story of innovation that includes some historic “firsts” that might be useful in constructing technical histories of cellulose ethers, coatings, and aircraft.