I got a lot of time in Cougars - first as a student in Kingsville, Texas in 1966, then an instructor at Beeville in 1970-1971. We had both single and two seaters as a student, but only the 2-seat "orange and white Easter egg" later on in the 1970s. TA-4Js started to come in around 1972.
All the types I flew were the "-8" versions, with fixed, cambered leading edge wings.
You are right - some really weird concepts and systems due to Navy paranoia about transonic, irreversible flight controls. It had a bewildering amount of double or triple redundancy in different places. The speed brake system, the horizontal tail, flaps etc were a watchmakers nightmare, but it was in the end pretty reliable. We did not get the zero-zero MB seats until late 1970 as I recall.
It had a centrifugal flow engine that could eat a wrench with no damage, but of course not too powerful or efficient. It was a dog taking off on a hot Texas afternoon, for sure.
A curious point was the non-retractable tail hook.
A U-shaped handle was attached to a cable; three aft pulls on this handle - sort of like trying to start a lawnmower - and the hook mechanisms rolled aft on a trolley-like assembly below the tailpipe. Once it rolled back far enough, it dangled down from its pivot point to its proper orientation and a light showed that it was extended.
By pushing a button, it could be raised hydraulically after a carrier landing to a horizontal, but aft-extended position (called the "stinger" position) to clear the landing area. Then two guys from the arresting gear crew would shove it into the stowed and locked position with a piece of iron pipe that had what I believe was a hunk of matress wrapped around it. They held the pipe, one man on each side of the tailpipe, at a 90 degree angle to the airplane, the padding was placed against the backside of the hook point, and the heave forward to shove the hook home.
The F9F Panthers worked the same way.
Oh well, whatever works --
