Bigmouth, yes, that's a good question. He had zero hours flight time, although on two or three occasions, as crew chief, he was allowed to ride along on post maintenace flights. I've now got about 2000 hours or so, mostly in complex piston singles - I've read through the T-33A flight manuals and studied the scenario he faced that day. I can't imagine me jumping into a T-Bird, even at gunpoint, and expecting to not have troubles.
Now, with an experienced back-seater, I'd love to give it the 'ol college try.
There's an old Norwegian truism, "Det er hell i uhell" - figuratively meaning "There's good luck in bad luck".
Cheers,
Tom