As a counterpart to the thread about what would have happened if the Wright Brothers had died earlier.
As mentioned in that thread, the Wright's main breakthrough was the development of appropriate control systems. However, once they developed this, they went to great lengths to keep their invention to themselves. However, others, such as Santos-Dumont in Europe were far more open with their ideas.
Suppose the Wrights, for whatever reason, had decided to freely release their invention, or at least be less lawsuit happy about it. How might this have affected the early history of aviation?
As mentioned in that thread, the Wright's main breakthrough was the development of appropriate control systems. However, once they developed this, they went to great lengths to keep their invention to themselves. However, others, such as Santos-Dumont in Europe were far more open with their ideas.
Suppose the Wrights, for whatever reason, had decided to freely release their invention, or at least be less lawsuit happy about it. How might this have affected the early history of aviation?