Comment by pbh101

Also it looks like Santos-Dumont's plane was 2-3 years after the Wright brothers. He was doing airships before that though - lighter-than-air craft that rely on a large balloon.

Edit: So it looks like the Wright brothers had catapult but didn't actually need it (their claim-to-fame flights didn't use it), but did otherwise need a "dolly" (a wooden cart, not a catapult) because the plane didn't have wheels attached to it. Then also Santos-Dumont was declared first in Europe because he demonstrated it in Paris during a period bad reporting had people in Europe questioning the legitimacy of the Wright brothers' flight.