Frankly, it amazes me that piston engines work at all without exploding, or "letting go", even though I have rebuilt several engines and understand exactly how they work.
F1 Grand Prix engines for example rev to incredible amounts and each piston costs £50,000 !!
Gas turbine engines are more "sensible" with smooth balanced rotating shafts, rather than the mind bending backwards and forwards stop-start of the pistons, con-rods and valves in a reciprocating engine.