- For the school in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, see Pilot School.
A Flight School logo
The Flight School is an activity in Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online, located on Exceptionalists Way at the Los Santos International Airport in Los Santos, San Andreas. In Story Mode, it becomes available after the mission Friends Reunited. In Online, it becomes available after the player downloads The San Andreas Flight School Update and is at least rank 6.
Description
Only Michael and Franklin need to take lessons to increase their flying skills, unlike Trevor who is already an expert pilot. Trevor will tell Michael to attend the school if his flying skill is not high enough, if the player chooses the Offshore method after the mission Scouting the Port. Note that Michael is NOT required to go to Flight School in order to initiate the heist, however the training is useful.[1]
Like the Pilot School in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the player will learn to fly airplanes, helicopters, and to perform skydiving. There are 12 lessons in total and for each one the player will be awarded with a different medal (gold, silver, or bronze), depending on how well the player completes the lesson. Mission failure will occur if the player crashes the aircraft, strays too far away from the course and enters an out-of-bounds area, or takes too long to complete the lesson. Unlike missions, these exercises do not have checkpoints or the skip option (after failing 3 times).
In GTA Online, the flight school consists of 10 solo lessons that include combat maneuvering, low-flying challenges, formation flying, and more. The player will unlock an Elitás Travel t-shirt after completing all 10 lessons with at least a bronze medal, and will earn $232,500 if every lesson is completed with a gold medal.
The flight instructor in GTA V is named Jackson, while the flight instructor in GTA Online is JT Boyd.
Lessons
GTA V
The twelve lessons to pass are:
| Lesson | Description | Given Vehicle | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Training Take Off | Take off and pass through two checkpoints. | Cuban 800 | 00:32 | 00:50 | 01:00 |
| Runway Landing | Land safely on the runway. | Cuban 800 | 00:35 | 00:55 | 01:10 |
| Inverted Flight | Perform barrel rolls and fly upside down. | Mallard | 01:40 | 02:00 | 02:20 |
| Knife Flight | Fly sideways and maintain altitude with the rudder. | Mallard | 00:54 | 01:15 | 01:40 |
| Flat Hatting | Fly a checkpoint course through the Port of Los Santos and the LSIA maintaining a low altitude. | Mallard | 02:15 | 02:35 | 03:00 |
| Touch Down | Land a plane on a bridge in Lago Zancudo as close as the final checkpoint as possible. | Mallard | 10 ft | 45 ft | Finish |
| Loop the Loop | Perform an inside loop. | Mallard | 01:35 | 01:40 | 02:05 |
| Helicopter Course | Fly through checkpoints in a helicopter through Los Santos. | Frogger | 02:40 | 03:15 | 03:45 |
| Helicopter Speed Run | Fly through checkpoints in a helicopter through the Palomino Highlands and Los Santos as fast as possible. | Frogger | 02:10 | 03:00 | 03:30 |
| Skydiving | Skydive and land on a stationary target. | n/a | 3 ft | 10 ft | 20 ft |
| Drop Zone | Skydive and land on a moving target. | n/a | 0 ft | 7 ft | 20 ft |
| Earn Your Wings | Course through the city performing stunts learned in the previous lessons. Green checkpoints are for knife flights and blue checkpoints for inverted flights. | Mallard | 02:50 | 03:15 | 03:40 |
GTA Online
The ten lessons to pass are:
| Lesson | Description | Given Vehicle | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outside Loop | Perform an outside loop. | P-996 Lazer | 00:58 | 01:20 | 02:00 |
| Engine Failure | Land the Miljet with an engine failure. | Miljet | 10m | 30m | Finish |
| Chase Parachute | Catch a parachute in midair and land safely. | n/a | 2m | 4.50m | 7m |
| City Landing | Land a plane in bad weather conditions. | Titan | 10m | 30m | Finish |
| Moving Landing | Land a Swift on a flatbed trailer before it drives into the tunnel. | Swift | 00:19 | 00:25 | 01:00 |
| Formation Flight | Fly in formation. | Besra | 600 | 450 | 300 |
| Shooting Range | Destroy targets using a Buzzard | Buzzard Attack Chopper | 25 | 15 | 10 |
| Ground Level | Fly through checkpoints, keeping as close to the ground as possible. | Besra | 1m | 3m | 10m |
| Collect Flags | Fly through 30 checkpoints in any order. | Besra | 02:40 | 03:00 | Finish |
| Follow Leader | Follow your instructor. | P-996 Lazer | 02:25 | 02:40 | Finish |
There also originally was a challenge called "Escort Cargo". It is unknown what the player had to do in it, but the flight school menu image suggests that the player used a P-996 LAZER to help a Titan land.
Videos
Trivia
- The flight school's logo is a pun on the phrase "on a wing and a prayer", being an image of two hands clasped as if for prayer backed by a pair of wings.
- The school was established in 2004, the same year Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was released.
- Although Trevor is an experienced pilot from his military past, he can still go to the school and finish the exercises to reach 100% flying skill faster. Despite his experience, Jackson will still call him a beginner during the lessons.
- Dom Beasley appears in the video introduction of the Skydiving and Drop Zone lessons.
- The flight instructor in GTA Online seems to be quite rude and likes to trash talk his students, which may be a slight reference to the drill sergeant in Full Metal Jacket.
- In Moving Landing image, the Swift is supposed to land onto a Flatbed, but in-game, it was replaced by a truck and a Super flatbed trailer, obviously because is too small for a Swift.
- However it is suitable for a Buzzard, the former helicopter.
Gallery
