Here is everything that Dean had to report in AHT about the Corsair's stalling characteristics:
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"Stalling characteristics of the Corsair were considered quite normal, at least after the spoiler strip was installed inboard on the right wing to keep the stall reasonably symmetrical. Stall warnings consisted of a tail buffet, an abnormal nose-up attitude, a lightening of stick forces, and increasing left wing heaviness with an additional requirement for right rudder if power was on. The warnings came only about five knots before actual stall in landing configuration, so later airplanes were equipped with a warning light in the cockpit to signal impending stall to pilots not fully proficient in the Corsair. The light, located on the instrument panel, was connected to an airflow sensor on the wing center section. A breakdown of wing airflow sent a signal to illuminate the light. The sensing system gave a more advanced warning, about 15 knots above stall speed in the clean condition of the airplane. After considerable experience with the aircraft pilots could sense an impending stall without the aid of the warning light.
The actual stall was quite abrupt, particularly with flaps down, and was accompanied by a relatively sharp left roll, or in some cases a sharp right wing drop and a nose down pitch. If the stick was quickly dumped forward a tendency to spin could be avoided. Stall speed was in the range of 70 to 90 knots IAS depending on aircraft model, weight, power level, and configuration.
An accelerated stall while pulling g in a high speed turn or dive pullout was preceded by aircraft buffeting a few knots above the actual stall. As with the landing condition, the spoiler on the right wing succeeded in stalling out the wings quite evenly in the high speed case. A Vought test pilot said "We found the wedge most effective in improving flight characteristics during a high speed accelereated stall". The stall was characterized by a quick right wing drop with considerable shaking of the aircraft, which could easily flick out of the turn unless back stick pressure was quickly released. When this was done a rapid recovery could be made.
Stall warning and stall recovery characteristics of both F4U-1C and F4U-1D Corsairs were rated "good" by a group of pilots. Interestingly though, the Corsair was ranked ninth of eleven fighter types in "Best characteristics five mph above stall".
No intentional spinning was permitted by the book in Corsairs, and Vought test pilots advised service pilots not to try. The reason was it got tougher to recover as the number of spins added up. If a spin developed inadvertently the pilot was to apply the standard procedure of full opposite rudder followed by full forward stick with ailerons held neutral. Recovery from the incipient stage of a spin was quick with standard procedures being used promptly, and with a one turn spin recovery could be made within a quarter turn. Letting it really wind up was the problem. In testing the later F4U-4 airplane though, Vought pilots explored spin behavior, including inverted spins, and found no particular difficulty in recovering from normal four turn spins with a clean airplane. This model was usually considered the very best flying of all the Corsair aircraft versions."
