dear haraka
pearl harbor, the movie was rotten, the other two I didn't see.
Somehow I think teaching the world to fly on instruments is more important than anything bleriot, santos dumont, or even whittle did. Therefore I believe doolittle belongs on the mt rushmore i propose. By the way, he had a degree from M.I.T. in aeronautics/aeronautical engineering.
Lindbergh helped design, construct the plane, did the navigation and actually accomplished what he set out to do. Fly from New York to Paris, nonstop. This (along with the brilliant orteig prize) opened the world to the possibility of a vast air transportation system. Others tried to do things like this, take earhart. She tried to do less, with more and still failed in her attempt to fly to paris, and not even from new york!
The Wrights figured out how to control a plane, found that previous calculations on lift were wrong, and taught the world to fly, for about 1000 dollars of their own money. And they are both on my pilot's license!
And I submit that it is a little of both, piloting and engineering that would make the case for those on the Mt Rushmore of aviation.