SGE,
Wow! Pretty stink'n neat stuff. You're a lucky dude. My best story to compare with that is pretty pale in comparison. I flew on C130s to snag de-orbited camera pods out of the sky and I flew on the early "Peace through Light" ALL (Air Borne Laser) in the 70's. Oh, and I have a VHS of Kelly Johnson and the SR71.
BIG DEAL. You got the real goods. My eyes are GREEN.
Thanks for the stories.
Cheers, DW