BEagle and Timelord
Firstly I’m sure I remember hearing that specialist cradles had been procured to eliminate the motion of the ocean though I may be wrong.
Secondly, I and many of my brethren are fully qualified simulator operators and instructors alongside our role as QFIs. It’s part of the lifestyle nowadays.
Modern sims have been designed to be user friendly and the complex scenarios you describe are all in a days work now.
In fact, the old days of sim instructors who were experts on the sim but weren’t qualified on type are no longer the norm.
Who better to put an F35 pilot through his paces than another F35 pilot? Why pay a civilian to become suitably qualified (and security cleared) when you have a ready pool of pilots in the wardroom?
BV