Smithsonian releases Wright brothers contract detailing 'first in flight' claims

I cannot understand what the Smithsonian and others are trying to prove.  It has been known since before the Wright Brothers flew in 1903 that they were not the first to fly.  What they did was not just fly but do something no one else had been able to do.  The flew a straight line as many have before, then turned around in the air and flew back.  That was the first  "controlled flight".   Taking off and landing at the end of a straight flight is NOT controlled flight.

What the Wright Brothers did was something unique.  For a number of years air plane builders had tried to make their planes turn.  The result is, the plane does turn and banks.  As the plan banks the wings loose lift and the plane crashes.  Again this is NOT controlled flight.  The Wrights made the wings of their plane so they could be twisted as the rudder is moved. This increased lift as the plane banked and the the plane turned successfully without crashing.

Undoubtedly, the Wright Brothers did not really understand the aerodynamics of their twisty wing. But it worked.  In fact it worked so well the same principal is used today on modern aircraft.

Stop with the harping. This is some garbage dreamed up by some wannabe intellectual who scrapped the bottom of the barrel to find something to make himself look smart.  It didn't work except with the ignorant, unwashed masses who spend their lives in front of their XBOX and barely learn enough to read at a third grade level.