My aircraft had struts (in tension.) I was surprised at the apparent lightness of the spar/fuselage attachment until I realised that it was mostly in compression and that two thirds of the fuselage load was carried through the spars. Not only that but, because of the strut angles the load on the strut/wing/fuselage fittings was twice or more the actual fuselage weight. Add in up to 3G and those fittings really were the critical ones. (Of course they are all critical but they were the ones I worried about most!)
The same, but in compression would apply to the Pawnee struts.