[Hoop]

Knew several guys who flew P-51's. One in particular who had experience flying a bunch of WW2 aircraft during and after the war ... including the Mustang in Europe.

His most fascinating assignment was flying the P-63 Kingcobra "Pinball." The aircraft had extra aluminum armor and was equipped with sensors that recorded the hits of special bullets ... fired by student gunners training in B-17's. A red light in the prop hub would also flash to indicate hits thus "Pinball."

During that time it wasn't a big deal to be flying one type of aircraft one day and switch to another the next morning ... and as they'd say, "We'll brief in the air."