B-17 Engine (Close Up)

I was fascinated by the radial engines on the B17.  The thought of getting 9 cylinders to fire when they are supposed to and run for hours on end and not look like a conventional block engine baffles me.  I'm also fascinated by the variable pitch propeller system.  I (used to) know a little bit about how all that works from a prior life.  But the props on a C-130 are driven by a jet engine and not cylinders.
Some of the categories in my photo club deal with machinery, so I took a number of close up shots.  This could also be a self portrait and somehow I managed to get myself in the lower left - along with shadow.

1/500   f/9
Aperture Priority
ISO 400
Focal Length 18mm
Focal Length (35 mm) 27 mm