Wright Brothers - Competing Claims

Competing Claims

First flight claims are made for Ader, Whitehead, Pearse, and Jatho for their variously documented tests in years prior to and including 1903. Claims that the first true flight occurred after 1903 are made for Vuia and Santos-Dumont. Supporters of these pre- and post-Wright pioneers argue that techniques used by the Wright brothers disqualify them as first to make successful airplane flights. Those techniques were: a launch rail; skids instead of wheels; a headwind at takeoff; and a catapult after 1903. Supporters of the Wright brothers argue that proven, repeated, controlled, and sustained flights by the brothers entitle them to credit as inventors of the airplane, regardless of those techniques.