Wright Brothers, phooey!
Otto Lilienthal was flying gliders in 1891 (up to over 1,000’ in height).
https://www.famousinventors.org/otto-lilienthal
Gustave Whitehead pioneered powered flight (in Connecticut) and first flew on August 14, 1901 - this was while the Wright Bros. were fiddling with bicycles and almost two years before their flight in NC.
http://gustavewhitehead.info/about-gustave-whitehead/
Why the cover-up?
The Smithsonian Institution has the Wright Flyer ON LOAN from a British museum in perpetuity UNLESS another person/institution was found to have flown (powered) prior...
The Smithsonian will not even - honestly - investigate Gustav Whitehead.
What stupidity.
I have seen the depth if design and pure engineering the Wright Brothers developed from nothing to create a machine that flew.
The individual you noted screwed around but created nothing of lasting value