The construction of translation planes from projective spaces

Abstract Can every (nonDesarguesian) projective plane be imbedded (in some natural, geometric fashion) in a (Desarguesian) projective space? The question is new but important, for, if the answer is yes, two entirely separate fields of research can be united. This paper provides a conceptually simple geometric construction which yields an affirmative answer for a broad class of planes. A plane π is given by the construction precisely when π is a translation plane with a coordinatizing right Veblen-Wedderburn system which is finite-dimensional over its left-operator skew-field. The condition is satisfied by all known translation planes, including all finite translation planes.