Quote:
Originally Posted by RPS69
They always break on the same place. It looks like some repetitive damage on an arcade game.
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This was exactly the point I was trying to make about the vulnerability of the 20 mm ammo magazine in the FW-190's wing.
This is confirmed not just by gun camera footage, but also by anecdotal evidence from a LW veteran who flew the FW-190 in combat.
If you look at a cutaway drawing of the FW-190A:
http://photobucket.com/images/fw%201...away%20drawing
You will notice that there is a drum-style 20mm ammo magazine just outboard of the the landing gear, right next to one of the wing spars.
Compare that to where the gun camera footage shows the wing breaking/exploding and there's a pretty good correlation.
Any plane which carries box or drum-style magazines filled with HE or APEX rounds, not just the FW-190, should be vulnerable to a "critical hit" which causes some or all of the remaining ammo to explode, but only if they are hit by an explosive round. Planes which carry belts of HE or APEX ammo should also be vulnerable, but only one bullet/shell should explode.
But, in terms of the .50 caliber effectiveness against airframes, IL2 makes it too easy to cause airframe damage.
For example, take a close look at the video cited above:
0:15 - 0:22 Bf-109. Hits observed on fuselage, no parts fall off, not obvious damage. Likely result: damaged.
0:23 - 0:27 FW-190. As above. Likely result: damaged.
0:28 - 0:47 Bf-109. Hits observed on fuselage, fuel tank leakage, then engine damage (smoke), final shot shows flames & plane in slow rolling dive, CK
0:48 - 0:51 Bf-109. Hits observed on fuselage, fuel tank/coolant leak, inverted spin but regains control. Likely result: damaged.
0:52 - 1:10 FW-190. No hits observed, but pilot bails out due to morale failure/poor tactical position, CK
1:11 - 1:23 FW-190. Hits observed on fuselage, further hits cause engine smoke or fuel/coolant leak, next frame shows fuel tank explosion, CK
1:24 - 1:29 FW-190. Hits observed on wing, ammo magazine blows up severing wing, CK
1:30- 1:33 FW-190, Hits observed on fuselage, fuel tank explosion, CK
Notice what's missing?
NO GREAT BIG HOLES IN THE AIRFRAME. NO AIRFRAME FAILURE (without secondary explosion). EVEN THE CONTROL SURFACES STAY PUT!
IMO, it should be just about impossible to make an airplane fall apart using .30 caliber guns, and very difficult to do so using .50 caliber guns. Heavy damage textures should be very difficult to trigger using .30 caliber guns and somewhat difficult using 0.50 calibers. This isn't just the FW-190, its just about all the planes in the game.
The exceptions are:
Any caliber weapon should be able to cause secondary explosions which can tear a plane apart.
Any caliber weapon should cause progressive airframe weakening which can cause airframe failure if the target plane subsequently attempts to fly at maximum speed (or overspeed) or attempts to pull high G maneuvers.
0.50 caliber guns might be able to break the airframe on a relatively small, lightly built aircraft, particularly one which isn't fully aerobatic (i.e., not stressed to cope with more than 3 g positive or -1 G negative).