Pilot School

For the school in Grand Theft Auto V, see Flight School.

The Pilot School, also known as the Flying School, is the most important of the vehicle schools in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, unlocked after "Verdant Meadows" with the purchase of the abandoned Verdant Meadows airstrip. Unlike all the other schools, it is mandatory to complete all the lessons with at least Bronze medals to continue the storyline.

The Pilot School consists of 10 lessons teaching the player how to fly planes, helicopters, and at the end - how to use a parachute. The work pays off later when the Rustler, Stunt Plane, and Hunter are unlocked respectively for achieving Bronze, Silver and Gold medals in all the lessons. By completing the lessons, the player will increase their Flying Skill and receive a "Pilot's License" allowing them to enter airports. Mission failure will occur if the player is wasted or by ditching the plane during the mission (indirectly destroying it). Colliding with anything will normally boot the player to the results screen with a failing grade, though rarely the plane will instead explode, wasting the player. An explosion is more likely to happen when careening into the water.

Lessons[]

The ten lessons to pass are:

Takeoff[]

Given vehicle: Rustler.
The player is required to take off and pass through three coronas.
- To obtain a gold medal, the player has to complete the lesson in 30 seconds or less.

Land Plane[]

Given vehicle: Rustler.
The player is required to fly through the corona, lower the landing gear and land in the designated target.
- To obtain a gold medal, the player has to complete the lesson in 30 seconds or less.

Circle Airstrip[]

Given vehicle: Rustler.
The player is required to fly a circular course through the red coronas after taking off and gaining altitude, then lower the landing gear and land in the designated target.
- To obtain a gold medal, the player has to complete the lesson in a minute or less.

Circle Airstrip and Land[]

Given vehicle: Rustler.
The player is again required to fly a circular course through the red coronas after taking off and gaining altitude, then land in the designated target on the airstrip.
- To obtain a gold medal, the player has to complete the lesson in 80 seconds or less. The player can try to land due east in the target.

Helicopter Takeoff[]

Given vehicle: Hunter.
The player is required to control a helicopter to climb and level off, then rotate 180 degrees and tilt to a 45 degree angle and quickly move the end of the runway before reaching the corona.
- To obtain a gold medal, the player has to complete the lesson in 30 seconds or less.

Land Helicopter[]

Given vehicle: Hunter.
The player is required to lass through the first corona, then land in the target facing due east.
- To obtain a gold medal, the player has to complete the lesson in 30 seconds or less.

Destroy Targets[]

Given vehicle: Hunter.
The player is required to destroy two groups of vehicular targets.
- First, the player should tilt the helicopter at a 45 degree angle, and move towards the three trucks at the end of the runway, then destroy them and make a sharp right turn towards the Snake Farm to find two cars driving in circles. The player has to destroy them as well and land the helicopter at the designated area.
- To obtain a gold medal, the player has to complete the lesson in 70 seconds or less and land straight on the airstrip within the landing zone indicator pointing the Hunter to the east on landing.

Loop-the-Loop[]

Given vehicle: Stuntplane.
The player is required to do a loop-the-loop.
- To do a loop-the loop, the player should press the corresponding key depending on the device after reaching the first corona. It could be pulling down on PlayStation 2, or pressing the or keys on PC. Then the player should continue with the loop, level off, and pass through the final corona.
- To obtain a gold medal, the player has to complete the lesson in 21 seconds or less.
- If playing on a PC, it is recommended to turn on the Frame Limiter for this lesson in order to get the gold medal.

Barrel Roll[]

Given vehicle: Stuntplane.
The player is required to do a barrel roll.
- To do a barrel roll, the player should press the corresponding key depending on the device after reaching the first corona. It could be pushing left/right on PlayStation 2, or pressing the / or / keys on PC. Then the player should fly through the second corona.
- To obtain a gold medal, the player has to complete the lesson in 18 seconds or less.
- If playing on a PC, it is recommended to turn on the Frame Limiter for this lesson in order to get the gold medal.

Parachute Onto Target[]

Given gear: Parachute
The player is required to land on the target zone on the airstrip with a parachute.
- The player has to skydive down to the target and deploy the Parachute, then glide into the target zone to finish.
- To obtain a gold medal, the player has to complete the lesson in 55 seconds or less, and land in the center of the target zone.
- If playing on a PC, it is recommended to turn off the Frame Limiter for this lesson.

Medals[]

Rewards[]

The reward for completing all the lessons on Bronze is a Rustler, for all Silver a Stunt Plane and for all Gold a Hunter. All these three will constantly spawn at the airstrip.

Completion of the first 3 tests with at least a bronze medal will award the player a pilot's licence. This will allow easy access to runway areas of airports and unlock all planes. Prior to doing this, it is possible to access the runway areas by parking a vehicle next to the fence and climbing over, or by using a Packer's "ramp" - the Easter Bay Airport runway can also be accessed via a glitch by simply punching the access gate or by jumping the water from northern Flint County - however all fixed-wing aircraft, parked at the Easter Bay Airport, will be locked, leaving the Maverick the only useful aircraft at that location. Every other aircraft will be unlocked since the beginning (excluding vehicles locked for mission purposes) including those parked at Las Venturas Airport, though some articles still refer to as locked.