OK, now this is really old information, but as a kid I recall reading
somewhere that the F-16 set a record for single-engine production fighters,
with a top speed of Mach 2.32, and that this was (at the time I heard) still
a record for single engine production fighters.

Is this true, or did it set a record when it first flew that was passed
later? I know that an F-16's top speed is lower, but....

Also, I have seen websites saying the -106 was phased out in 1988, but I
seem to recall the order being given around then, but the process taking a
while, with Atlantic City, NJ featuring them flying/on the ramp up until the
Desert Storm timeframe or soon thereafter....

What I wouldn't give for some of the books I read as a kid. The library in
town was full of books on the USAF written in the early 1960s. Truly a step
into a different perspective on things. Seeing the old school planes and
pressure suits, as well as the cheerful prose. (Especially the sections on
survival training, with USAF pilots cheerfully cooking alligators caught in
the Everglades.)