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sidebar: Sorry, but the Wright brothers had no serious contenders. They invented the science of aerodynamics and control of a lifting wing. There were other dreamers pushing forward, but no one actually performing the scientific and engineering core research that enabled them to get off the ground. The Wrights did the deep work, they invented practical heavier than air flight. If you have other facts, please state who the other contenders were who almost beat them.

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The above is a factual issue; it does not mean I agree or don't agree with your point about the 'steam engine effect.'

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They did not invent the science of aerodynamics.  Isaac Newton published work on air resistance, George Cayley distinguished between lift and drag and researched on aerodymanic shapes (he is, incidentally, called the Father of Aerodynamics), the first wind tunnel was built in 1871 by Francis Wenham who, incidentally, was a member of the Royal Aeronautical Society, founded in 1866, the year before Wilbur was born (and 5 years before Orville).

I had a list, but then found a more convenient one.  Look here.  This sentence summarizes it neatly:  "While the 1903 Flyer was clearly a historically important test vehicle, its near-mythical status in American imagination has obscured its place as part of a continuing development program that eventually led to the Wrights' mastery of controlled flight in 1905."

The one major thing the Wrights did bring to the table was their work on control surfaces, allowing better control of powered flight.  This isn't to diminish their actual accomplishments (control surfaces proved the critical factor in sustained, safe, powered flight), but otherwise nothing they did stood out from other work being done at the time.