Quite a few Navy squadrons allow enlisted people to become "backseat qualified". You have to do the survival-at-sea training stuff (swimming lessons, hop in the pool with full flight gear and stay afloat) simulated "ejections", sometimes several rides on the centrifuge, some simulator time, become qualified to run the engines on-deck (what is known as "turn qual'd") for maintenance purposes. After that, it's just a matter of working you into the schedule.
And, of course, all the pilots do some yanking and banking for a "puke check". I always hated that, but that's just part of their little game. Some people expect the full rollercoaster ride, and other's don't really care for it. I mostly just enjoyed trying to keep track of everything; in modern dog-fights and ground attack runs, the radar information alone is helaciously complex.
|