One of several groups who developed airplanes at around the same time. It is said that AlexanderGrahamBell got to the patent office with his phone first, by a couple hours.

They were SMART.
* S Scientific
* M Methodical
* A Analytical
* R Resourceful
* T Triumphant (Tested, Improved, Repeated)
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Almost more importantly, they were methodical and persistent.  For example, where they discovered that the accepted wing designs didn't perform as they were supposed to, the Wrights constructed their own wind tunnel and tested many airfoil shapes.  Unlike their main (American) rival, Samuel P Langley of the Smithsonian Institution, they realized that control was critical to the success of a flying machine and spend a number of years experimenting with various three-axis (pitch, roll, and yaw) control systems.  One of the best pages about the Wrights is by the "Wright Experience", and group devoted to recreating the 1903 flight on the anniversary of the centennial (a year from now!): 
	 :	http://www.wrightexperience.com/images/COFC/COFC_TH.jpg	http://www.wrightexperience.com/
-- GeoffSobering