i recall reading that in such recoveries, the pilots spines were or could be subjected to on the order of about 16g's (or some outrageous figure) or so, momentarily
So Daii forget aboot the pilots spine for a minute now it may be a rubber flight deck but that cant be doing the airframe any good can it i guess stuff was built to last back then but this was the possible future of carrier aviation along with trolley take offs