I was watching air racing superstar Steven Hinton attempt to do what his father had done 38 years before: set the three-kilometer speed record for piston-engine, propeller-driven aircraft.

But it also means that mixing the fuel and air can be tricky, which is why diesel engines have specially-shaped pistons. A diesel engine's piston head looks like someone took a scoop out of the top.

The aircraft is now in the Honduras air museum, which keeps it in running (but not flying) condition. The last dogfights between piston-engine, propeller-driven airplanes weren’t fought in the ...