Skimmer

A Skimmer in GTA Vice City.

The Skimmer is a seaplane in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories.

Description

Design

In all its appearances, the Skimmer is simply a redesigned Dodo with a pair of large pontoons on the bottom in place of landing gears; the GTA San Andreas rendition further includes reinforcement on the connection between the pontoons and fuselage, as well as harnesses between the pontoons, fuselage and the tailfin, and a four-blade propeller. Although seemingly plausible, the design of the Skimmer is somewhat impractical in real-life given the weight and size of the pontoon in relation of the plane and its power, which makes takeoff more difficult than in the games.

Whilst being able to land on water, the Skimmer in GTA Vice City and GTA Vice City Stories does not feature any functional doors, resulting in the player simply warped inside the plane when entered. If the player exits the plane, however, they immediately spawn on top of the plane's wing and the plane would immediately stop no matter the speed. This problem was rectified in GTA San Andreas, when the plane's door can be opened, and the player can enter and exit through the doors, a feature only possible with the Skimmer's recategorization from a boat to a plane.

Unlike the Dodo, the Skimmer in GTA Vice City and GTA San Andreas may come in a variety of two-tone body colors (as opposed to the same red-white color scheme of the Dodo). The Skimmer in GTA Vice City Stories simply comes with an all-grey body color.

• 

  GTA Vice City.

• 

  GTA San Andreas.

• 

  GTA Vice City Stories.

Performance

Aside from its beneficial amphibious nature, the Skimmer's performance in the air is very much similar to the Dodo in that they both have the same sluggish acceleration and poor top speed, owing to a low-power engine; the Skimmer also has the tendency of stalling easily even if the upward pitch of the plane is only moderately steep. These traits make the plane merely suitable for steady, slow air travel.

Trivia

• The Skimmer is the only accessible fixed-wing plane in GTA Vice City.
• In the original PlayStation 2 version of GTA Vice City, a Skimmer can acquire wheels if sprayed in a spray shop.
• In GTA San Andreas, the default radio station is CSR 103.9.
• In GTA Vice City Stories, the plane can reach incredible heights by taking off at a 45 degree angle and at rare times land on top of towers.
• The Skimmer is the only aircraft in GTA Vice City Stories that is not featured in any missions, both main and side.
• Since the plane has no functional doors in GTA Vice City and GTA Vice City Stories, hostile pedestrians or police officers will not be able to open the door of the plane and pull out/arrest the player, simply running against the Skimmer's pontoons without doing anything else.

Locations

GTA Vice City

• At the jetty on the western side of the InterGlobal Films Studio in Prawn Island after the mission "Dildo Dodo."

GTA San Andreas

• At the Sherman Dam in Bone County
• At the beach near Bayside Marina in Tierra Robada
• Next to a wooden staircase just south of Arco del Oeste.
• At a jetty at Valle Ocultado near the Tee Pee Motel in Bone County.

GTA Vice City Stories

• By a jetty in Downtown behind The Greasy Chopper after "From Zero to Hero", just south of the Downtown Police Station.
• To the east of the lighthouse in Ocean Beach after "From Zero to Hero". Available on the PlayStation 2 version only.
• Can be purchased from the Clymenus Suite for $4500.