Putting together the CF-104 List has been a labour of love for me over the past 5 years. Listing and locating so many old (and some not so old) warriors has brought me a great deal of satisfaction and personal pleasure. The bonds we formed with each other during those wonderful years when we were fortunate enough to be associated with that magnificent steed are as strong today as they were when we bid farewell to each other at a squadron going-away party or in a crowded AMU terminal. I am continually amazed at how the years melt away when we get together again after long absences and we pick up where we left off as though it were only yesterday we walked (or ran) across the tarmac together with our spurs clacking on the pavement as we prepared to strap on the beast we lovingly called the "104", "cent-quatre" or, in later years, the "zip". Within minutes the old camaraderie, squadron loyalty (and rivalry) and fond memories resurface and we are telling the same old war stories as though none of us had ever heard them before. It was for that reason, and realizing that there were many of my old comrades that I had lost contact with in the 30-odd years since I last lit an afterburner or deployed a drag 'chute, that I decided to try to list all of the pilots and other key personnel who were associated with the CF-104 program and to locate as many of them as possible to assist us in regaining and maintaining communications with each other. It has been quite a project, and some of you have not been easy to find. There are still a few (five as of the date of this writing) whom I have been unable to locate. Their names will appear elsewhere in this website and if you have any idea where they may be, please let me know. In addition, more than 140 of us have flown west into the setting sun. They will be missed, for the loss of any one of us hurts us all. I have located the widows of many of them and will continue to search for others. I hope that they will feel welcome to remain associated with us and to join us at any get-togethers that we hold in future.

From the creation of the list evolved the idea of a reunion. It had been 17 years since the stand-down ceremonies at Baden, and many of us felt it was high time we got together again as a group. As a result, a reunion cruise to Alaska was held in September 2003. A post-mortem of the cruise will appear elsewhere in this website. The reunion was a great success, and the consensus of those who attended was that we should continue to hold them every two or three years. We are now in the initial planning stages for the next two events and I hope that a great number of you will be able to join us for one or both of them.