The Fw-190 A-D and Ta-152 are my favorite airplanes ever. But, if the wing blew off after a .50 cal strike, the wing blew off. This thread has nothing to do with national pride and whose wang-dang is biggest and bestest.
I've since looked at all my books (about 20 on the Fw-190) and have discovered that the outer-wing cannon station on the A series aircraft were completely unprotected. The A-8/R8 experimental series aircraft had forward(20mm), upper (4mm) and bottom (4mm) armor, but nothing protecting the rear.
The 20mm/30mm ammunition canister/drum/can/box was resting on the 9th wing rib and if it exploded, that's where the wing separated.
The question is: Catastrophic wing separations are obvious, "wow" events. They would have been seen and reported by other Fw-190 pilots in the East and West. These men were flying with the equivalent of a box of dynamite in both wings, with no protection whatsoever.
Why didn't someone fix this problem or remove the danger?? That's the question.
BTW: If you have gun camera of P-47 wing flying off, I want to see it. I've already asked whether .50 cal shell-casings (propellant) detonated and the answer was no.
Bronc