will all be experienced on a current commercial type
Oooh,
to be honest I tend to get nervous flying on something that's been around as long as a 737... yes, I know it's illogical, but having flown for a living for a while in my youth I was frightened often enough to ensure I never go through check in without my lucky rabbits feet (one is never enough), various holy medals (I figure everyone becomes religious when falling from 40,000 ft) and balloon (one lungful at height will inflate it to mega size, my master plan is to blow into balloon, grip end, float down gently).
Flapping arms on the way down, if all else fails, is not to be sneezed at - after all, have you anything better to be spending your time and energy on?
Surely even Boeing will be too embarrassed to be selling a version of 737 by the time prospective P-8 pilots are finished?
As for inability to lay a tight pattern etc - what we need is something a bit like LGBs, ie steerable sonobuoys (ta DAAAH)...whizz over at a steady height, direction and speed dispensing buoys, then steer them during descent to exactly where you want them. Then, of course, spend the next hour or more scratching your head about the geometry you are trying to interpret without being aware of how they all immediately drifted in different directions at varying speed.
(Except for the one hooked over the sub's comms mast, which is doing 6 knots south).
Dave