There are much controversies [0] about who was the first to invent and who used a powered, "heavier than air" aircraft. The first to invent may not be the firs

There are much controversies [0] about who was the first to invent and who used a powered, "heavier than air" aircraft. The first to invent may not be the first to use, and not all aircraft are powered, even Wright brothers used a catapult several years after their "first" flight. And having the possibility to steer the aircraft is yet another modality that was missing in the Wright brother 17 December 1903 flight. In retrospective how that catapult thing was so much a novelty when Robert Hooke in 1655 made a spring-powered ornithopter model which was apparently able to fly? And indeed George Cayley should never be forgotten [1]. In 1799, he set forth the concept of the modern aeroplane as a fixed-wing flying machine with separate systems for lift, propulsion, and control. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claims_to_the_first_powered_flight https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claims_to_the_first_powered_fl... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Cayley https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Cayley