Not to be confused with the Hustler.
The Rustler is a fighter plane in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
Design[]
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas[]
The Rustler draws inspiration from various real-life WWII fighter planes, primarily the North American P-51 Mustang.[1] However it also appears to take inspiration from the Curtis P-40 Warhawk, the Hawker Typhoon and the Supermarine Spitfire. Despite its evident inspiration on combat planes, the Rustler is seemingly treated as a recurring civilian/trainer plane.
The Rustler takes the design of a single-seater "interceptor" aircraft with a relatively large and sectioned fuselage, where the nose houses a large four-bladed propeller, a large intake below the spinner and numerous exhausts on the sides. Around the middle section, there is the small cockpit with a sliding canopy and the main wings mounted at the base of the aircraft (low-wing setup) with the corresponding ailerons, while the underside has dedicated hatches for the main landing gear. The tail boom houses the empennage with the horizontal stabilizers and the vertical stabilizer, while the lower side has a single tail wheel. Carl Johnson stands on top of the plane's left wing to open the hatch to reach the cockpit.
The Rustler is seen with a gray body and black/white stripes on the lower surfaces of the main wings and the tail boom. The primary color is applied to the upper surfaces of the fuselage, wings and horizontal stabilizers, while the secondary color is applied to the end of the nose, the wing tips and the vertical stabilizer.
The vehicle is armed with a set of six built-in machine guns fixed into the wings.
Performance[]
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas[]
Vehicle[]
As expected from a fighter plane, the Rustler has impressive speed in the air and is very maneuverable, making it one of the easiest planes to fly, and it is also the first one provided to the player during the course of the story. However, it has a relatively long take-off time compared to other propeller-planes of its size. Like other propeller planes, it will stall when the player attempts to fly it vertically. The plane is also incredibly susceptible to damage.
The Rustler is powered by a V12 engine similar to its real-life inspirations, and uses a low-pitched sound also used on the Stuntplane.
Weaponry[]
The machine guns deal a moderate amount of damage, but they do not lock onto targets. Being coupled with the plane's impressive speed while in the air, this makes them difficult to use effectively. However, the Rustler can shoot down an AI-controlled Hydra in a dogfight with no problems, due to its maneuverability, speed, the machine guns' power and the guns' rate of fire.
GTA San Andreas Overview[]
| Take-Off Speed (0-60 knots in Seconds) |
Top Speed (mph / kmh / knots) |
Engine Type | Engine Location | Mass (kg / lbs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N/A | 124 / 200 / 108 | Petrol | N/A | 5000 / 11023 |
| N/A | N/A | Single SOHC V12, 3-bladed propeller | Front | Cannot be observed |
Gallery[]
Prominent Appearances in Gameplay[]
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas[]
- The Rustler is used for multiple missions at the flying school.
- It is also used in the mission N.O.E. to fly under military radar to Angel Pine.
- Used in the World War Ace checkpoint race in the checkpoint races in Las Venturas.
Locations[]
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas[]
- Uncommonly spawns in the bottom floor of the police impound lot in Roca Escalante occasionally alongside a Leviathan and a Hydra in the Xbox and PS2 versions. Sometimes the plane intersects the ground, it is nearly impossible to even enter the plane.
- In the PC version, the spawning frequency of the Rustler in the LVPD impound lot is largely reduced, though it may still spawn if by any chance unlike a Leviathan or a Hydra, both may not.
- In the remastered versions of the game, the Rustler is no longer found inside the impound lot, making obtaining the Rustler from the LVPD impound lot impossible.
- In a hangar in the southern part of Easter Bay Airport, the hatch is locked until the player completes Learning to Fly.
- Spawns at Verdant Meadows after completing mission "Learning to Fly", in a small hangar east to the AC tower.
- Occasionally seen being flown in the sky by invisible NPCs. They will not return fire if attacked with aircraft-mounted weapons or jetpack-pistol.
Trivia[]
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas[]
- The Rustler is one of the common planes that might crash randomly in the environment.
- Like other planes that tilt upwards when parked (such as the Stuntplane, Nevada and Cropduster) the plane will move backwards when the Cars drive on water cheat is enabled.
- The Beta version of the Rustler had a different nose which makes the plane looks more like a P-51 Mustang and less like a Curtis P-40 Warhawk.
- In the Vice Point Mall there is a Rustler suspended near the Ammu-Nation in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories.
- The black and white stripes on the Rustler may indicate that rustlers were indeed used in WW2 in the game's universe due to these stripes signifying Allied Aircraft during D-Day. [ref?]
- Occasionally, the Rustler will spawn with a brownish primary and red secondary color. This color scheme is vastly similar to the design of P-51 Mustangs nicknamed "Red Tails" flown by the Tuskegee Airmen.
See Also
- P-996 LAZER - A military multi-role fighter jet featured in Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online.
- Hydra - A military VTOL fighter jet featured in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and GTA Online as part of the Heists update.
- Besra - A military trainer jet featured in GTA V and GTA Online as a part of the San Andreas Flight School Update.
- V-65 Molotok - A Korean War-era jet fighter included in the Smuggler's Run update for GTA Online.
- Pyro - A WWII-era jet fighter included in the Smuggler's Run update for GTA Online.
- LF-22 Starling - A WWII-era rocket-powered fighter plane included in the Smuggler's Run update for GTA Online.
- P-45 Nokota - A WWII-era fighter plane included in the Smuggler's Run update for GTA Online.
- Rogue - A single-prop military trainer plane that can be repurposed as an attack plane, included in the Smuggler's Run update for GTA Online.
- Vulkan - A cut military VTOL fighter jet that was to appear in GTA V. It shares its physical appearance and performance with the Hydra.
References[]
- ↑ Early placeholder text for the cut mission Dogfight in notusedtext.txt:
[DES11_1:DSERT11] Get in the Mustang and escort the plane safely to San Fran Airport.