The last 2 posts say what I think but expressed much better!
I am not "anti-Wright" and agree that their contribution and dedication was huge, but I feel that the "podium" built for them by their fans is too high and too exclusive; in my opinion the Montgolfier Brothers, Sir George Cayley, Otto Lillienthal, Clement Ader (among others) made equally significant historical contributions; Percy Pilcher would probably have joined this elite group if he had not been killed.
From what I have learned here and elsewhere I am not convinced that Whitehead is in this group.
Finally the "criteria" seem to me to be debatable, especially as heavier-than-air craft can and do fly without 3 axis control mechanisms. Clement Ader has been ruled out of being the "first" because Eole did not have "proper" 3 axis controls, but if we now know that 3AC is not imperative, then why is it still classed as a defining criterion?
For example, I believe that some modern military jets would be incapable of controlled flight without their computers, so by the very criteria used to place the Wrights at Number One, we would logically have to say that modern planes are NOT planes!