The Contribution of the Wright Brothers in Airplane Development: An Investigative Report

Abstract

On 17 December 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright entered the record books when their heavier-than-air flying machine became the first capable of manned, powered, sustained, and controlled flight.  However, the Wrights did not invent the airplane. This is a general misconception.  A closer examination of aviation history reveals that the accomplishment of the Wright brothers was the final step in a work that started much earlier than them.  A review of the literature demonstrates that some historians may have disregarded certain unpopular characteristics in the Wrights’ behaviors, namely their legal battles with the rest of the aviation world to attain wealth and recognition.