The P-47 was a flying brick? Maybe not.
The P-47N was the fastest fighter in mass production anywhere and could not be caught except maybe by prototypes and the P-47M. Everything else was slower and probably rolled a bit slower, too. The armament was devastating and the range was long, expecially in the N model. It could take punishment like no other aircraft except maybe teh Soviet IL-2 / 10.
It finished the war in Europe as one of the top fighters in service and is a very strong candidate for top fighter, everything else notwithstanding. I personally would not vote it as top, but MANY people would, especially pilots who flew it. At the Planes of Fame Museum, we have several former Thunderbolt pilots and they are emphatic that they would rather fly a Thunderbolt than anything else avialable in all of WWII. Of course, tey MAY be remembering with rose-coloered glasses, but the fact remians they LOVED the Jug and would not trade it for anything else available in the timeframe during which they served.
That says a LOT for the P-47, regardless of which camp you may be in.
Though I really like the Re.2005 (my favorite Italian fighter), it had nowhere NEAR the impact of the P-47 to the war, even over Italy. Maybe the fact they only made about 48 of them makes a difference versus 15,680 P-47's.
Ya' think?
Wish we had one flying at the Museum!