It's amazing that an object as simple as a piston can withstand the rigors of combustion for hundreds of thousands of miles without failing. There's a lot more to a piston than meets the eye, matey.
When you're at an airport and see propeller aircraft, you likely think it is powered by a piston engine. This is usually true among smaller planes, like the Cessa 172 Skyhawk and the Piper Archer, or ...