Most airplane inventors at the time were impulsive and disorganized; they would think of an idea, build a plane as quickly as they could, and then try to fly it as soon as possible.
a tentative insight that is not yet verified or tested
Scientists today, like the Wright brothers, don't just build things and see what happens; they make observations, then form a hypothesis or guess, and then do more tests to see if their hypothesis is correct.
They wrote for help to the U.S. Weather Bureau, who told them that Kitty Hawk, North Carolina would make a perfect test site because of its high winds, its hilly terrain, and its sandy dunes (in case of crash landings).