My mum's 83, she knows a German plane by the sound it makes, she reckons they always sounded laboured, as if they were struggling to stay up.To clarify, an allied plane always had a smooth sound to it, a bit like a car engine at a given speed, a German aircraft on the other hand sort went with a thrumming sound, a bit hard to put in words on paper but I guess....thrum...thrum...thrum etc. Ask an older person they might be able to explain it. Or play Battle of Britain, where they got it right.The Spitfire represents a lot more than the Mustang, it represents not only the lone stand of a small island against a massive army, but personal sacrifice, both of the pilots of whom there were so few and of Reginald Mitchell who designed it, and died as a result. He sacrificed himself knowingly to give our country a great fighter, one that could hand it out to the Luftwaffe and come back to do it again.That is why the Spit is such an icon. And why it will be remembered long after the P51 has passed into history.

Careful. We have to understand that the P-51 represents far more to the Americans (at least those who care about such things) than to us Brits. Personally, I still think there is a fundamental difference between the two which, dare I say it, can only really be appreciated if you are British. The Spitfire achieved its place in history in 1940, when the freedom of this country hung in the balance, the Mustang in 1944-45, when the Allied/Soviet victory was assured. So I suppose you could say that historically the free world owes a much greater debt to the Spitfire than the Mustang. But of course, in the end it does indeed boil down to personal opinion. I love both aircraft, but nothing brings on that 'lump in the throat' feeling more than R J Mitchell's classic design.Ian

Thanks Ian, you're more of a diplomat than I am. I have a bad habit of speaking my mind, right or wrong, quite probably the latter most often.

Hi Paul,:-lol I don't often read the hanger chat but having come across this gem and your excellent response (don't you just love it when a good old Anglo-Saxon word gets past the thought police!) I just wanted to add my sixpenneth.You sound like a true Anglophile sir and I too would welcome the US back into the fold after their transgression back in 1776 but do you think our lords and masters - (the EU commissioners) would permit such treachery? }( Bring back the Monster Raving Loony Party!!