For four-and-a-half minutes each, more than 200 Selma residents got to climb in the cockpit of a Navy jet fighter, zoom along the ocean, fly over desert mountain ranges and finally land on the rolling deck of an aircraft carrier.

Or, at least they got to pretend to do it.

Selma’s Navy Recruitment Office got a chance to promote itself with a monstrous flight simulator parked in front of the Selma Mall.

“We’re just letting the community know there’s college money for them,” Navy recruiter Edward A. Theodoro said. “We’re doing all this to promote the Navy, to show (Selmians) there’s a job opportunity.”

To help Theodoro get the word out, the Navy sent one of its only two flight simulators to Selma.

The colorful contraption is basically a movie screen set inside a fiberglass “cockpit,” mounted on the back of an 18-wheeler.

To simulate motion, the cockpit is moved around by a set of hydraulic jacks.

The whole contraption weighs 91,000 pounds more than highway regulations allow.

“It needs a special permit just to get around the United States,” Theodoro said.

The whole herky-jerky experience is a lot of fun, and several Selma residents loved it.

The ride can hold 16 people, although most of the groups in the parking lot of the Selma Mall were far smaller.

“This is great,” Ernest Wright told Theodoro. Wright and his wife Deborah both enjoyed the quick ride.

Today, the simulator will be in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Demopolis.

On Dec. 30, the simulator will be in San Francisco, for the Emerald Bowl.