One thing I like about the bigger planes is their ability to bleed speed quickly in a climb, and gain speed pretty quick in a dive.
I'm no expert by any means, and my favorite ride is a P-38, which I find to be great vertical fighter, unlike the P-47.
Big planes like the P-47 though, are made for people who can think in 3 dimensions, like the others have mentioned here.
A high yo-yo in a turn will bleed your speed very quickly and often cause an overshoot with an opponent who has a plane that holds E better. Then if they don't break off by going vertical, you can catch many 'flat turners' on the downside of the yo yo, or at least get the speed boost to maintain a firing solution a little longer.
Like I said, I'm no expert, and I can think about these things much better than I can execute them, but the concept should be sound (the more experienced here will let me know otherwise).
Cheers,
Spitter