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

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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.