This video explores one of the strangest naval send-offs in history. During its final voyage in 1978, the crew of HMS Ark Royal decided to mark the occasion with dark humor and tradition. Using the ship’s steam-powered aircraft catapult, they launched an old piano straight into the sea at roughly 104 knots. The piano wasn’t operational and had no further use onboard, making it a symbolic — and unforgettable — farewell gesture. What would normally send fighter jets airborne instead sent a musical

We use some incredible archive footage to create our series, and thank goodness we have this window into the past. We can show the viewing public, the 'before' and 'after' element of our aircraft restoration, the then and now, its such a great part of history that fortunately hundreds of both professionals and civilians caught on camera. We found this great piece of an early Wright Brothers demonstration flight... Amazing... Thanks to US National Archives for preserving such great pieces of hist

The Besler Steam Plane of 1933 was the first practical steam-powered aircraft. It used a large oil burner to heat the boiler, and its operation was so quiet the pilot could yell to people on the ground when flying low and be heard clearly. | Silodrome