I think that everyone can agree that the race was very close.

But what is flight ? Do we mean controlled flight ? Powered flight ? Controlled and powered flight ?

The Wrights had flown gliders down the dunes of Kitty Hawk in previous seasons. Does that Count ?

And thier fisrt powered flight was witnessed. The entire crew from the nearby life boat station was there to help them. And then , of course, there is that famous photograph.

There is no doubt that other very bright and tallented men around the world were also experimenting with flight . But no one at all has the decumentation that the Wrights have. There mathematical calculations were brilliant and they acheived an effeciency in proppeller design that wasn't matched for 70 years.

The proof is in the documentation. And the Wrights had a boat load of documentation.

I don't see what difference it makes who actually flew first and how much power or control they had. The patends that the Wrights held on the airplane turned out to be basicly worthless anyway. And thier particular design was over shadowed by those of Glen Curtiss almost immediatly.

If anyone deserves more credit for manned fight it would be Glen Curtiss. His experience at building motorcycles made him the ideal man to develope the engines with enough power for real flight. Meanwhile the Wrights did not advance their planes enough. They were to busy fighting Curtiss and others in court and insisting they owned the patend on ALL airplanes. They Lost !

Everyone took a step. Everyone stood on the shoulders of someone before them.....everyone, even the Wrights. But Curtiss took a larger step than the Wrights, I believe much larger. The courts agreed.