The P-47 could and DID dogfight. Go to the History Channel and watch a show about the attack on Y- 29. Its a Dogfight with P- 47s. Also, the P- 47 had a water injection system to cool off the engine, making it go really fast. Also, the P- 47 had 4 paddle props, so it was not that bad at climing (compared to when it only had 3 props). The best thing about the P- 47 during a dogfight was its durability. I read somewhere that a P- 47 was flying low throw a forest and came home with tree tops in the fuselage. It still made it!