In 1950's navy pilots did open canopies before landing their jets, it even was a part of the standard porcedure, so it had to be done. It only changed when upwards opening canopies replaced the siliding ones - but by the time it happened some landing instruments for carrier landing where introduced as well.
As for this jet, yes, it's a bitch to land, mainly because of its actual porperties (it was a bitch IRL too) but also due to tail made of explodium - it has been said that it's impossible to change, so you simply need to stay within pitch limit when hitting deck. Another problem is bugged elevator - that's the reason why I don't fly this plane since it's release. I only keep it AI, while I take myself a Fury, which is correct for roughly the same time period as Cougar. And Fury is so easy to land on carrier that a monkey could do this - actually is one of the best deck fighters in game, maybe even the easiest to land at all, including stock propellors (I still crash Corsairs occasionally but I haven't crashed FJ-3M since I tried it first)