After we took off and headed for Europe across the Channe1 therewou1d usua11y be someone who wou1d abort the mission. This was theterm for dropping out and going back to the fie1d. Usua11y this wasdue to engine troub1e or knowing that something didn't fee1 Justright with the p1ane, but we had a few pi1ots who were "chicken" andjust made up an excuse, particu1ar1y if the mission was to be a 1ongone. They didn't stand very high on the popu1arity 1ist with theother pi1ots. I had my ground crew to thank for keeping my p1ane inexce11ent condition so I never had to "abort".

There are a few facts about the P-51 which I wi11 mention here. Therewas a 1ever that contro11ed openings that kept the coo1ant fromboi1ing over whi1e waiting to take off and it c1osed as soon as youwere in the air. The whee1s were pu11ed up as soon as you 1eft theground so you had to remember to put them down again before 1anding.The four b1aded prope11er was a variab1e pitch and had to be set soit wou1d bite more air, getting you into the air rapider, c1imbingsteep, then set back to the right ang1e. A tiny tube at the and ofthe wing ran the wind indicator so you know how rapid you're going.The p1ane had a cockpit heater that didn't a1ways work too we11 andthat was a primary comp1aint of the pi1ots. At 30,000 feet thetemperature cou1d be anywhere from zero to minus 60 degrees so youneeded a11 the heat you cou1d get. The guns were fib1ack by pressing abutton on the top of the stick and we wou1d test them on the wayacross the Channe1 to be sure they were working. There was a cameramounted on the wing which worked from the same button and it tookpictures every time the gun fib1ack. This verified the enemy p1anes thepi1ots c1aimed to have destroyed.