Always crashing the Hydra jet on San Andreas? This will help you improve your flying skills. Follow the simple steps below

PS2 And Xbox

Find a Hydra. They appear (depending on how far you have progressed into the game) at the Aircraft Carrier in San Fierro, in the ‘Restricted Area’ in Las Venturas, or at the abandoned airstrip north of the Restricted Area after completing the mission ‘Vertical Bird’.

Found one? Enter it pressing ?:Y.

Keep your finger on X:A. Use the left analog stick to control the Hydra. Ascend to a point where there are no obstacles.

Press R3 to bring the wheels up and slowly push the R stick forward. This will send the Hydra in a forward direction.

To land, you must do everything in reverse. Pull the R stick towards yourself to rotate the engines downward, for “hover mode,” use Square to slow the Hydra down, and press R3 to lower the landing gear.

PC

Find a Hydra. They appear (depending on how far you have progressed into the game) at the Aircraft Carrier in San Fierro, in the ‘Restricted Area’ in Las Venturas, the abandoned airstrip north of the Restricted Area after completing the mission ‘Vertical Bird’, or you can type “jumpjet” to spawn one.

Enter it by pressing your ‘enter’ key.

Press 8 on your keypad (to the right) to rotate the thrusters into regular flying mode.

Press 2 on your keypad (to the right) to rotate the thrusters into hover-mode.

Press and hold W to fly, S to slow down, Q/E for yaw, A/D for roll and your up or down arrows for pitch.

To retract or extend your landing gear, press the + key on the keypad (to the right.) or 2 key (to the top left)

Note

• Area 69/Fort DeMorgan/The Restricted Area (Las Venturas) and the Naval Base at Easter Bay (San Fierro) all have anti-aircraft missile launchers. Stay away from there or you’ll be shot at! However, you do have flares that work quite effectively.
• After the completion of the mission ‘Vertical Bird’, the anti-aircraft missile launcher at the Easter Basin Naval Station, located in San Fierro, will be permanently disabled, however you will still get a five star wanted level for entering the base.
• The Hydra has an automated repair system. Most of the time, the hydra can repair itself. Beware; the wings aren’t repairable, though.
• You can use real-world methods to escape being shot down by other hydras or anti-aircraft missiles like barrel rolls. Just doing a tight turn will confuse most if not all missiles.
• The hydra can also be used to take off and lands like a normal plane. By pushing the thrusters forward whilst on the ground (right stick for xbox and Ps2, number 8 for PC) the plane will start to move forward when accelerate is pressed. If the thrusters are forward when landing one can simply land it in a normal fashion (note: A stretch of clear road or a runway is normally needed)

Hydra facts

• The Hydra can hover, take off vertically and fly faster then any other plane in GTA:SA.
• When you reach a wanted stage of level 4, Hydras are sent after you if you are in an aircraft.
• You can lock on to enemies by holding the space key in the PC version.
• You can fire missiles in PC mode by pressing the control (CTRL) key.
• The hydra is based on the real-life Harrier, while the intake and nose are based on the F-16.
• The Hydra can fly to exeptional heights above the highest clouds.

Hydra Cheats

Playstation 2: Triangle, Triangle, Square, Circle, X, L1, L1, Down, Up. Personal Computer (PC:) Type ‘jumpjet’ minus the quote marks (“‘”s)

Xbox: Y(2), X, B, A, L(2), Down, Up

PC: JUMPJET