Airplanes were developed almost as soon as piston engines became available. Steam engines were too heavy for a plane. And even the early piston engine had a bad power/weight ratio. For french speakers, there is a video of a retired Dassault plane designer where he mentions (among other things) that developments in plane design basically followed developments in engines.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lu4V9zn0wZ4

Also highly recommend his previous video about the design of the Rafale, it's basically a lecture in plane aerodynamics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrpsptSLt90