For the Air Ambulance in Grand Theft Auto V see Police Maverick - Air Ambulance Variant.
The Air Ambulance is an emergency helicopter in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. As the name implies, it is a medical rescue helicopter, being the aerial equivalent of the Ambulance.
Design[]
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories[]
The Air Ambulance is similar in design to the Bell 412, therefore being the medical counterpart of the Armadillo, another emergency helicopter. The Air Ambulance comes in a white and red livery, with medical markings on it. Aside from the two seats in the front that can normally be interacted with by the player and/or NPCs, six additional seats are featured within the middle compartment of the helicopter.
The Air Ambulance can be used to activate the Air Rescue side mission, the airborne equivalent of the Paramedic side mission, which is triggered within an Ambulance. Completion of the side mission will boast the player's maximum health.
During the development of GTA Vice City Stories, the Air Ambulance was originally developed as a Coastguard Maverick, but was re-designed after the Coastguard Maverick was cut. [ref?]
Performance[]
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories[]
Like the Armadillo, the Air Ambulance is a relatively large helicopter that nevertheless possesses relatively good speed, with moderately steep pitches that help increase its acceleration at the expense of losing altitude faster.
GTA Vice City Stories 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 | Twin turboshaft engines, Four-bladed rotor | Middle/Side-mounted | Cannot be observed |
Prominent Appearances in Gameplay[]
- Lost and Found - Used by Victor Vance and Louise Cassidy-Williams to save Lance Vance from being trapped on top of a burning building in Vice Point, then flying over to the boats of Martinez' goons to get Lance's money back, and finally, flying back to Louise's apartment in Little Havana.
Locations[]
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories[]
- On the helipad behind Ocean View Hospital, Ocean Beach, after the mission From Zero to Hero.
- On the roof of Schuman Health Care Center, Downtown, after the mission From Zero To Hero.
Trivia[]
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories[]
- Both sides of the nose bear cursively written text. Due to the poor quality of its texture, the words are somewhat hard to identify.
- "VCS - 911" is also written on both sides of the helicopter on the turbine engines. 911 is clearly referring to the main emergency number in the United States, and "VCS" is short for "Vice City Stories".
- Unlike the Armadillo, the Air Ambulance has the same door sound as low-grade cars, only with a higher pitch.
- In the PS2 version of the game, the Air Ambulance features a radio, unlike in the PSP version.
- In the game files, the Air Ambulance is designed to spawn with two color schemes that are identical (-15,-16). Negative color IDs are actually invalid, and the game just reads them as 0 instead. It seems that the chopper instead spawns with a set texture. This is a characteristic shared with the VCN Maverick, the Armadillo, the Little Willie, the Sea Sparrow and the Sparrow.
See Also[]
- Police Maverick - A vehicle which, in Grand Theft Auto V, holds an Air Ambulance variant under the name "Police Maverick".
- Armadillo - A similar helicopter, which shares the same body design as the Air Ambulance in GTA Vice City Stories.
- The Police Helicopter and Helicopter in Grand Theft Auto III, also based on a Bell 412.
- Raindance - A medical rescue helicopter in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.