You bring back great memories for me. I enlisted in Feb '53. Went to tech school at Scott AFB for ground radio repair...remained as an instructor until I shipped out to Iceland for duty on the DEW line.

At Scott, my barracks were about 50 yards from a hanger which housed some Mustangs. Occasionally, they scared the hell out of us in the early AM with the most beautiful sound from those Merlins. I had a love affair with the P-51 when I was a boy.....and still do.

We had a few Sabres there too, but I reserved my trips to the flight line to watch the 51s take off. I remember they didn't need much runway to clear their behinds. :>) What a wonderful noise! I think they would have taken the Sabre in the quarter mile....or maybe I'm just biased. :>)

Did you ever fly the Mustang?