# Thunderbolt vs hellcat



## Xdominick97 (Apr 3, 2012)

Which is an overall better dogfighter


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## CORSNING (Apr 4, 2012)

Boom and Zoom: P-47
Close in turning: F6F
That about sums up the whole answer.


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## renrich (Apr 5, 2012)

Once again we run into the "dogfight" conundrum. "Dogfighting" was one type of ACM. All ACM was not "dogfighting." Between the P47 and F6F, a lot depends on the model. Early P47s did not climb well. Later models did better. An F6F3 against an early P47 would have an advantage in a "dogfight" below 25000 feet but the P47 could usually dive away from the fight and in an "energy" fight could hold it's own. All P47s would have an advantage over all Hellcats in an energy fight. In an "angles" horizontal fight below 25000 feet the Hellcat would have an advantage. The lower the altitude the more the advantage.


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## CORSNING (Apr 5, 2012)

Exactly what renrich just said.


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## davebender (Apr 7, 2012)

The P-47 was designed to fly fast @ 30,000 feet. It's at a disadvantage for most other missions and that's especially true for slow speed dog fighting. Almost any WWII era fighter aircraft could dog fight better then a P-47.


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