  This is the first in a series of articles devoted to providing a foundation
for a theory of flocks of arbitrary cones in PG(3,q). The desire to have such a
theory stems from a need to better understand the very significant and
applicable special case of flocks of quadratic cones in PG(3,q). Flocks of
quadratic cones have connections with several other geometrical objects,
including certain types of generalized quadrangles, spreads, translation
planes, hyperovals (in even characteristic), ovoids, inversive planes and
quasi-fibrations of hyperbolic quadrics. This rich collection of
interconnections is the basis for the strong interest in such flocks. Recent
work has indicated that some of these connections can be extended to
non-quadratic cones, so there is an additional desire to have such a theory.
