About this website
Hello,
My name is Nathan Decker and, as you can see, I’m obsessed with early Cold War era jets. I am, however, the ultimate amateur historian/researcher -- I have no military experience, I have no real aviation experience other than a couple of airliner flights to see my grandmother in California, and I have never actually seen any of the jets that I research with my own eyes. Before 2006 I had absolutely no idea what any of this stuff was, I couldn't have told you the difference between an F-102A and the Space Shuttle. That said, I’ve put an enormous amount of work into this project and I hope that you will view these pages with that in mind.
A note on copyright stuff. I am just a casual collector of information, I have no ulterior motive here and I am no threat to all you "serious historians" out there. I am in absolutely no way attempting to make a penny off this website, it's just a hobby to tinker at when the kids are napping and there's nothing good on TV. In fact, it has cost me a small fortune to set up and buy all the books and microfilm rolls. I am totally 100% positive that I have some copyrighted photos on this site, few of which I know about. I have any number of helpful readers sending me pictures of planes all the time and I consistently fail to ask (or really care) where they got them from. This is an "information only" website, and, once again, I'm not making a penny off it in any way. However, if you see a copyrighted image on here, and it really bothers you that much, feel free to email me and I'll take it down. Ok?
With each entry I have tried to match up exact serial/bureau numbers with as complete service histories as I can find. Admittedly, most of them are pretty bare as I have had extreme difficulty locating service histories for most of these planes. If you have additional information on a particular serial/bureau number, or if I screwed something up, email me. Please let me know
Some of the details I am looking for include: What units they served with and maybe what years. If any crashed or were written-off and when and why. Any combat service and losses. When they were taken out of service and what happened to them, were they scrapped or sold off or whatever. Foreign service records would be great!
This has become "crowd sourcing" at its finest lately and I have been very blessed to have met some wonderful people who know a heck of a lot more about this subject than I. Thanks to all!