P-47D. Period. Best plane ever. Plus, it looks awesome!!

no

you dont need a rudder when you are nearly twice as fast as the other guy

To each his own.

true but there were experimental missiles being tested too

It has a pair of airbrakes for a rudder.

I just love the P-47 because, A, it looks cool and B it can take a ton of fire. Not very maneuverable but other than that it's good.

The P47 is certainly an interesting plane to fly. It dives very fast but once you have lost altitude it is hard to get back above your enemy, and even the Bf109 and Fw190, notorious for their poor turning circles, can turn inside it. The plus points are a huge capability to both receive and deal out punishment, but a good pilot in a 109 or 190 will smoke you. This is one of the few planes where I would recommend you take every head on pass opportunity available.

Keep in mind that there's a lot more to flight in WWII than just dogfighting. The most productive stuff happened vs. ground targets and bombers. "Best plane" would hardly be limited to just fighters. "Favorite" maybe, but that's not the topic. ;)

And that is the exact reason why i think that the mossie was the best plane of WWII. It was fast, cheap, VERY versatile, easy to make because of the wood (that meant that furnature manufacturers could be sub-contracted, not disrupting the aircraft industry,) strong and looks cool. The large engines just besides the cockpit make it look really beefy. And because of the weight, or rather lack of weight, it did not have the manouverability issues the P-47 did. Plus, get the right variant (or the hornet) then you can pack one hell of a punch.