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Fred Howard's book is the best I have found re the history of the Wrights. The article fails to point out that there were a handful of inventors who were able to build filters that could get off the ground, but only the Wright's plane could CONTROL flight direction. NO other "aeroplanes" of the day could control pitch, roll and yaw. That was the big breakthrough. Once you understand this and look at the other claims it becomes clear that the Wrights were the first to conquer powered, controlled flight.

Glen Curtis does have one real claim to fame -- he replaced the Wright's "wing warping" with ailerons. The Wrights sued for patent revenue because they said it was the same technology in a different configuration. WWI put plane manufacturing into overdrive around the world leaving the Wrights virtually helpless to pursue patent infringements.

Yes, its a fascinating era to study. It was one of my biggest interests when I was in middle school, especially the WWI-era. There were several inventors and tinkerers who got off the ground by various means before the Wright Brothers, but as you point out, they were the first to show that a heavier-than-air craft could leave level ground and maintain a controlled flight. Hard to believe, when you consider the moon landings, etc., that its "only" been 100 years since that day at Kitty Hawk!