Maxim - Flying Pioneer...
 

Looks like Hiram Maxim's invention of flying planes date to 1894...a few years before the Wright brothers...after a "free flight" of his invention in July 31, 1984, he lost interest and continued with weapons designs.

http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/maxim.html

Hi Pete,

You're correct, although Maxim was mostly interested in proving the concept of flight. He found the documentation available at the time below standard and he decided to build a test rig to test and document the concept. It surely must have been the only steam powered aircraft that ever made it off the ground.

His experiments led to an interesting sideline, a theme park ride called 'the captive flying machine'. A few of these machines were sold and one is still in use today.