This is why the P-47 Thunderbolt may have been the best fighter plane of World War 2.
Bristling with eight .50 caliber machine guns and payloads of rockets and bombs, the P-47’s effectiveness came from its exceptionally fast speed for its weight. With a maximum speed of 426 miles per hour, it was an ideal multi-purpose aircraft capable of both dogfighting and attacking ground targets. It could also take a beating and stay in the fight.
The real proof is in the numbers. P-47s destroyed over 7,000 enemy aircraft in the European theater, more than half of the total for the entire war, and it had a measly 0.7 per mission rate loss. Of the 15,683 manufactured during the war, only 3,499 were lost in combat giving it an air-to-air kill ratio of 4.6 to 1.
Though it lacked the range of the P-51 Mustang, making it less ideal for bomber escort missions, the Thunderbolt destroyed so many Luftwaffe fighters that it played a key part in grinding down the German war machine.
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