The rocket motor provided a significant vertical component, so the acceleration didn't have to be overly dramatic. The rocket fired for several seconds to reach an airspeed of about 200 knots. By contrast, I've read that an aircraft carrier catapault stroke gets you from 0 to 160 knots in 1.6 seconds. Headrests are not optional.

Years ago, I saw an interesting cover shot on one of my brother's hot rod magazines. It showed an F-14 in full afterburner next to a rail (unlimited dragster) doing a burnout. It was a very impressive picture to a propellor head like me. The article inside was about a drag race between the F-14 and the rail. Actually, it was between the F-14 on a catapault (they have some on land for training and flight test purposes) and the rail. I think the F-14 won.