Comments by "mpetersen6" (@mpetersen6) on "How a steam-powered aeroplane took to the air in England in 1894; long before the Wright brothers" video.

@stumac869 Even in the US the Wrights had a hard time getting traction. The US government was funding Langley. A scale model of which had flown successfully. Shortly before the Wrights first flights (1) Langley tried and failed. Were their other machines that got into the air? Yes. But as stated by others it was controlled flight. In a later aviation meet in France where the Europeans were happy to get "flights" little more than hops. By that time the Wrights were flying literally for miles. 1) After going back to Ohio the Wrights had alot of trouble getting into the air. Turns out the flights at Kitty Hawk took place during a period of high pressure. Plus the Wrights had photographs.
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The first really successful steam powered flight happened in the early 1930s. A two cylinder double expansion steam engine was fitted to a proven airframe and flown. Simply to prove it could be done. Where the Wrights really succeeded was in their use of wind tunnel data. Which let them refine their wing design. And their propeller design. Their wind tunnel data proved that the lift and drag data that other experimenters were using was wrong. Look at the early attempts and the propellors they used. Crude creations of wood and fabric. The ones the Wrights developed approach the efficency of modern props. The Wrights really did invent contolled usable flight.
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