> The french played a very dominant role as well.

As far as I've known, that largely involved a tremendous number of English channel crossings, but I will look more into that so I don't stay ignorant; thanks. ;- )

So an Frenchman, creator of he first practical monoplane, crosses the English channel before an Brit does... but the Channel is named for the English so the Brits get the credit? Nice dude...

Here are a few places for you to begin your research:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_in_the_pioneer_era

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grande_Semaine_d%27Aviation_de...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Blériot

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soci%C3%A9t%C3%A9_pour_l%27avi...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A%C3%A9ro-Club_de_France

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornu_helicopter

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27A%C3%A9rophile

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Arm%C3%A9e_de_l...

Aside: How many American-made components do you see with big bold French labels on them? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fdr_sidefront.jpg

Fuselage, Empennage, Ailerons...

To name a few more aviation terms derived from French...

Aviation: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/aviation

Aéroplane: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/aeroplane

Hélicoptère: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/helicopter

Sortie: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sortie

Hangar, Mayday (m'aider), Bombardier, Airport...

Hopefully you're being deliberately ironic, but your comment indicates a purely anglo-centric perspective. Continental European endeavour irrelevant except when it intersects with the homeland!