[F4U-1_Corsair]

SBD's are not TBM's though, the TBM was the heaviest single engine aircraft of WWII, roughly 75% heavier then the SBD. However, I have been reading up on Pilot's accounts of Avengers in action, for a campaign I have been working on, and all of them speak highly of its performance, one passage saying that he "handled it like a fighter" in maneuvers (this being a pilot who had flown F4F-3 fighters before midway). Another (perhaps more relevant) reference was of a pilot, who after dropping his torpedo, spotted a zero diving on him, managed to avoid it by "turning sharply."

While none of this gives us accurate flight characteristics, It does show we can't just rule out its present FM as being like an "arcade game". I would suppose however, that such tight maneuvers would not be possible continuously, due to the strength needed to handle a plane weighing over eight tons without boosted controls.