RSSYour questions should provoke some interest at the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. Obviously they’re too busy indicting Bannon to get involved.
I’m not sure about the others, but I spent quite a bit of time on the Wright Brothers here in Dayton, OH.
The only two contenders during this period were Otto Lilienthal and Samuel Langley. Both failed.
All of the other claims were obscure and unverified. The Wright Brothers flew over an extended period at Huffman Prairie, where hundreds witnessed the Flyer taking off, making circles around the field, and surviving the landing. Later they repeated the demonstration in France and Fort Meade.
None of the other claimants have any kind of comparable record. It’s usually “somebody said somebody said he flew.”
One side note: Lilienthal did the original work on wing lift and drag. His numbers were wrong. The Wrights realized this and hid their wind tunnel work — the famous Wright “penchant for secrecy.” They had the only correct information, and this advantage put them in front.
In short, after the Wright Brothers flew, everybody flew. Before the Wright Brothers, there was only talk of flying.
Whitehead flew and his plane had a rudder.
Before the Wright Brothers, there was only talk of flying.