Some trivia for you engine gurus

I was going through my "stuff" the other day and came across an engine that was siezed up. I loosened it up, disassembled it and found something interesting. The crankshaft is aluminum and the connecting rod is steel!
Anyone know what it is? Hint: it's not homemade - it's an actual production engine!
(Mike P - do not respond - you already know the answer!)
Bob Z

Aero 35 axial piston engine.

Amazing, just amazing!
I will reassemble it soon and see how it runs.
Ever fly one????
Bob Z.

LAST EDITED ON Jan-28-04 AT 09:59 AM (CDT)
 
The only person that I ever heard of flying one is Wild Bill Netzeband. He published his results in a Model Airplane News article back in the 1960's. The rod broke in the engine after about 1/2 hour of running. The rod has a stress riser built into it; not a good design.

They are very smooth while running but produce low power for their displacement. We ran one at a Collecto get together a few years ago.