Buzzard

Revision as of 21:11, 8 May 2010 by Worldwar77 (talk | contribs)
Vehicle
Buzzard
A Buzzard in its original color in The Ballad of Gay Tony.
A Buzzard in its original color in The Ballad of Gay Tony.
A Buzzard in its original color in The Ballad of Gay Tony.
Appearance(s) [[Appearance::The Ballad of Gay Tony]]
Vehicle type Light-class attack helicopter
Capacity 2
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The Buzzard is a small attack helicopter featured in Grand Theft Auto IV's The Ballad of Gay Tony DLC. In a special report by Weazel News, the buzzard is considererd an illegal attack helicopter, but the LCPD wont really put an effort into stopping a buzzard until it fires on a police officer.

Description

Similarly armed with machine guns as the Annihilator, as well as additionally featuring missile pods, the Buzzard is evidently based on an AH-6 Little Bird, an attack variant of the MH-6 Little Bird light observation helicopter, which in turn is a military version of the OH-6 Cayuse and the MD 500C. It's important to note that the Buzzard has the old style tail stabilizer, characteristic of the MD-500C and its corresponding defender/AH/MH-6 counterparts.

As mentioned above, the Buzzard is based off of a military class light attack helicopter. This makes it illegal, at least in Liberty City. It holds 2 people, and is equipped with two high-powered miniguns and rockets. The minigun on the Buzzard is much more effective than those on the Annihilator. It has a much faster rate of fire, a narrower spread, and fires both guns simultaneously, unlike the Annihilator which only fires one gun at a time. It also never overheats, allowing for continuous fire. According to in-game speech, the Buzzard that Luis Fernando Lopez intended to steal for Yusuf Amir was a prototype, meaning there's possibly only a single one in existence. The same stolen one was later repainted gold (or possibly gold plated) by Yusuf - this difference would be first recognized during the mission Not So Fast where Luis must use it to land on the roof of the Libertonian.

Armaments

  • Machine Guns — A Button (Xbox 360) X Button (PS3)
  • Rockets — X Button (Xbox 360) Square Button (PS3) (Note: The player should NOT use rockets at a low altitude with a sharp trajectory as the detonating rocket can destroy the helicopter and kill the player.)
  • Rotor- Dipping the rotor with the Left Thumbstick (Hitting people with the rotor will automatically kill them, along with it removes parts of helicopters and throws cars)

Trivia

  • The Buzzard is available in the "Free Mode" multiplayer mode.
  • If a modder during Free Mode gets a Buzzard, there is no possible way of destroying it. This is why people that cant get one are angered by it.
  • Buzzard could be the next generation of Sparrow and Sea Sparrow, as they both share similar design with Buzzard.
  • Before the name was revealed, many fans believed or speculated that it was a Sparrow.
  • Due to the Buzzard's easy maneuverability and rapid-fire armaments, many players online and off have became very skilled in using this helicopter's weaponry.
  • Some players online hate the Buzzard due to the amount of people spawn killing, blowing up other chopper spawns, stalking people, and constantly dominating game modes with it's firepower.
  • Despite its power, the pilot and passenger are extremely vulnerable to fire from heavy weapons, such as the Explosive Shotgun or the M249, due to the bubble canopy and lack of bulletproof glass.
  • The Buzzard is similar to the Hunter due to its weaponry.
  • In a one-on-one dogfight with a Annihilator, in the hands of skillful pilots, it can destroy them in a single, well fired rocket. A tip for dogfighting with other helicopters is to fly higher than the opposing player(s), forcing them to pitch upwards, hindering their control over the Heli, giving you an advantage. Another idea is that when dogfighting with an Annihilator, stay out of range of its guns. The Buzzard's guns have a longer range than the Annihilator, so as long as you keep your distance, destroying them should be easy.
  • The Buzzard can elevate slightly higher than other helicopters in the GTA series.
  • The name "Buzzard" may be a reference to Buzzard 1, a named helicoper from the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas mission Reuniting the Families.

Locations

  • Yusuf Amir gives his Gold Buzzard to you as a gift after completing the game; In which it will be available at the heli-pad beside the golf club. As a result it replaces the Swift.
  • The Buzzard can be found atop the police headquaters in East Holland, Algonquin. (Can be found in single player). The Buzzard replaces the Annihilator, which before was found on the helipad.
  • Can be spawned via cheat code, by dialing the number: 359-555-2899 ("FLY"-555-"BUZZ").
  • In multiplayer, there are multiple locations where Buzzards can be found. The first two are found at Francis International Airport at the helipads. One can be found at the heliport in southern Algonquin. One can also be found at a dock next to the parking garage in eastern Algonquin. Yet another one can be found at the yacht (not sunk in multiplayer) just south of Acter Industrial Park and east of Happiness Island. Finally several can be found at Higgins Helitours located off the shores of Castle Gardens and Fishmarket South, Algonquin.

See also