Narrative:

At lakeland; I experienced an near midair collision with a P-51 while taxiing out for departure in my rv-8. I was waved into position on the wbound parallel taxiway for a runway 9 departure with a group of warbirds following. 2 P-51's followed by a sea fury were about less than 1 mi behind me. There were about 20 aircraft ahead of me; and departures seemed pretty efficient and the line was moving along quite well. The thought of the fatal rv-6 accident at oshkosh 2 yrs ago went through my mind; and I planned to be especially vigilant to not get run over from behind. Knowing that the P-51 is pretty blind directly forward; I weaved from left to right on the taxiway; as far to the edges as I could so as to make myself more visible to my following traffic. I was becoming concerned; as the P-51 was moving up and closing the distance behind me pretty rapidly. The P-51 and sea fury behind him had pretty good spacing. When we passed the sign that advised to change to departure frequency; I looked left as we were passing the camping area. There were maybe 100 people lined up at the fence watching the departures; but something caused my blood to suddenly run cold; as people were pointing at me; and pointing cameras at me; and jumping up and down. I spun my head around to see the P-51 about 20 ft behind me and closing fast. I turned my head forward; and made sure it was clear in front of me; and added full power. My traffic in front of me was about 100 ft ahead of me; so I had a little bit of room for a while. I was planning to head off the side of the taxiway if necessary; which definitely would have caused my airplane some major damage; but that would have been preferable to being chewed up by that 12 ft propeller behind me. I then pulled as close behind the traffic in front of me; and turned 90 degrees to the taxiway; so I could keep an eye on this clown. The P-51 pilot had a passenger in back; and he still insisted on crowding me; to the point that he was again about 15-20 ft behind me as we moved down the line for departure. A fatal accident was prevented in this case to a large part by an aware crowd; who had no established way to communicate what was happening.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: TAXIING FOR TKOF IN A LONG LINE OF ACFT FOLLOWING A FLY-IN; PLT OF RV8 HOMEBUILT IS NEARLY OVERTAKEN BY P51 IMMEDIATELY BEHIND.

Narrative: AT LAKELAND; I EXPERIENCED AN NMAC WITH A P-51 WHILE TAXIING OUT FOR DEP IN MY RV-8. I WAS WAVED INTO POS ON THE WBOUND PARALLEL TXWY FOR A RWY 9 DEP WITH A GROUP OF WARBIRDS FOLLOWING. 2 P-51'S FOLLOWED BY A SEA FURY WERE ABOUT LESS THAN 1 MI BEHIND ME. THERE WERE ABOUT 20 ACFT AHEAD OF ME; AND DEPS SEEMED PRETTY EFFICIENT AND THE LINE WAS MOVING ALONG QUITE WELL. THE THOUGHT OF THE FATAL RV-6 ACCIDENT AT OSHKOSH 2 YRS AGO WENT THROUGH MY MIND; AND I PLANNED TO BE ESPECIALLY VIGILANT TO NOT GET RUN OVER FROM BEHIND. KNOWING THAT THE P-51 IS PRETTY BLIND DIRECTLY FORWARD; I WEAVED FROM L TO R ON THE TXWY; AS FAR TO THE EDGES AS I COULD SO AS TO MAKE MYSELF MORE VISIBLE TO MY FOLLOWING TFC. I WAS BECOMING CONCERNED; AS THE P-51 WAS MOVING UP AND CLOSING THE DISTANCE BEHIND ME PRETTY RAPIDLY. THE P-51 AND SEA FURY BEHIND HIM HAD PRETTY GOOD SPACING. WHEN WE PASSED THE SIGN THAT ADVISED TO CHANGE TO DEP FREQ; I LOOKED L AS WE WERE PASSING THE CAMPING AREA. THERE WERE MAYBE 100 PEOPLE LINED UP AT THE FENCE WATCHING THE DEPS; BUT SOMETHING CAUSED MY BLOOD TO SUDDENLY RUN COLD; AS PEOPLE WERE POINTING AT ME; AND POINTING CAMERAS AT ME; AND JUMPING UP AND DOWN. I SPUN MY HEAD AROUND TO SEE THE P-51 ABOUT 20 FT BEHIND ME AND CLOSING FAST. I TURNED MY HEAD FORWARD; AND MADE SURE IT WAS CLR IN FRONT OF ME; AND ADDED FULL PWR. MY TFC IN FRONT OF ME WAS ABOUT 100 FT AHEAD OF ME; SO I HAD A LITTLE BIT OF ROOM FOR A WHILE. I WAS PLANNING TO HEAD OFF THE SIDE OF THE TXWY IF NECESSARY; WHICH DEFINITELY WOULD HAVE CAUSED MY AIRPLANE SOME MAJOR DAMAGE; BUT THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN PREFERABLE TO BEING CHEWED UP BY THAT 12 FT PROP BEHIND ME. I THEN PULLED AS CLOSE BEHIND THE TFC IN FRONT OF ME; AND TURNED 90 DEGS TO THE TXWY; SO I COULD KEEP AN EYE ON THIS CLOWN. THE P-51 PLT HAD A PAX IN BACK; AND HE STILL INSISTED ON CROWDING ME; TO THE POINT THAT HE WAS AGAIN ABOUT 15-20 FT BEHIND ME AS WE MOVED DOWN THE LINE FOR DEP. A FATAL ACCIDENT WAS PREVENTED IN THIS CASE TO A LARGE PART BY AN AWARE CROWD; WHO HAD NO ESTABLISHED WAY TO COMMUNICATE WHAT WAS HAPPENING.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of May 2009 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.