The p 47 thunderbolt and the p 51 mustang fought side by side with the allies in world war ii they even divided the job of kicking axis ass between them by the end of the war the mustang became known as an escort fighter while the thunderbolt too. Two of the best fighter planes produced by the us during world war ii was the p 47 thunderbolt and the p 51 mustang both fighters were highly capable fast and could engage with the best enemy fighter planes of germany and japan however there were many differences between the two aircraft which makes the p 47 thunderbolt vs p 51 mustang comparison even more fascinating such a head to head . P 51 mustang versus p 47 thunderboltairplanep 51 mustangp 47 thunderboltcountryusausatype of aircraftfighter bomberfighter bomberfirst . P 47 vs p 51 costs after looking at the specs of both the thunderbolt and the mustang it may be tempting to declare a winner however as with everything in life we also need to look at costs too. Comparing the republic p 47 thunderbolt single seat single engine fighter bomber aircraft against the north american p 51 mustang single seat single engine fighter fighter bomber aircraft