The early history of aviation was dominated by carnivals and courtrooms. There were numerous attempts at early flights. The Wright brothers were able to develop some technology that would actually work. They soon spent more effort on defending their patent than pursuing than demonstrating their technology. Meanwhile, the public became excited by flying. Different competitions were held to demonstrate flight and break barriers. Dirigibles and other vehicles initially competed in these, but planes came to dominated. Others airplane manufacturers, such as Curtis created airplanes that were able to build and improve on airplane technology. These contests helped to increase the speed, distance and altitude of flight. Some pilots, such as Beachey gained fame from their flying ability. Many pilots died in crashes. Early on, the Wrights tended to have a higher crash rate. The Wright Brothers did patent the basic concepts of flight and attempted to collect a 20% royalty. However, World War I ended up limiting that. After Orville Wright sold the company the litigation took a back seat. The patent war may have set the US aviation industry back some time. How do we balance given credit to initial inventors with allowing other to build upon this?
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