Andromada

The Andromada is a fixed-wing aircraft featured in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Design

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

The Andromada is a large 4-engine transport aircraft. Its front fuselage and nose are heavily based on the Lockheed C-141 Starlifter, while the engines, empennage and wings are based on those of the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy. It can be noted that the Andromada is much smaller than its real-life counterparts, even being unrealistically smaller than the AT-400.

Its name is a misspelling of "Andromeda", a Greek deity, a galaxy and constellation (a reference to one of the aircraft that inspired the Andromada, the C-5 "Galaxy"). The plane can support a combination of two body colors: one for the fuselage, and the other for the wings, engines, vertical stabilizer and elevators. The plane's rear cargo door can be also opened and closed, but nothing can be stored in the plane itself; neither can the player enter the rear due to an invisible wall.

The interior of the Andromada is seen in the mission Stowaway, however, like the interior of the Shamal in Freefall, this interior is not part of the plane model. It is in the "interior universe" (where all game interiors in San Andreas are situated), high above the sky, with clouds moving outside to simulate the plane itself moving. Parts of the exterior of the plane are visible when standing at the edge of the ramp. The interior is only enterable via that mission, cheats, or a trainer. Within the interior are two cargo areas walled off by netting, followed by cargo boxes, then shelves stocked with barrels.

The aircraft itself is not meant to be obtained, and due to that it is poorly textured (the cockpit window being black and opaque), does not feature any entering animation (CJ will simply go through the fuselage when entered), and features a few graphical glitches such as a lack of shadow (except in the PS2 version), and also strange sounds when walking onto it (reusing the sound of walking on grass).

Performance

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

The Andromada features a performance very similar to the AT-400. It is slower and heavier, however it can still reach high speeds as it is powered by four engines. The Andromada can also reach the sky top limit, and is tougher than other aircraft. As a result of its size, the Andromada will crash onto any obstacle when landing or taking off, therefore is recommended to use it on the main airports.

GTA San Andreas Overview

Image Gallery

The Andromada on the ground, illustrating its size relative to its surroundings in Verdant Meadows. Note its rear cargo door is lowered.

The Andromada's interior, looking towards the front.

Andromada dropping barrels as it takes off.

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Prominent Appearances in Missions

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

• The plane is featured in the mission Stowaway, where Carl Johnson drives a PCJ-600 into the back of the plane, blows it up, and then parachutes out.
• It is also seen briefly in the mission A Home In The Hills, flying over the The Camel's Toe Casino out of Las Venturas, heading south to Los Santos, as CJ is on his way to Madd Dogg's mansion.

Locations

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

• Under normal circumstances, the Andromada is one of the rarest vehicles in the game, along with the S.W.A.T..
  • Like the AT-400, Andromadas can be seen flying over cities, however they fly much faster and higher than AT-400s, and therefore are impossible to hijack.
  • It is possible (though rare) for the Andromada to appear in the impound lot, though it is more than likely to explode when approached, this is even possible on console versions of the game. However, this is no longer the case in the PC and remastered versions, rendering the Andromada impossible to be found inside the impound lots.

Trivia

General

• The default radio station for the Andromada is Radio X.
• A handling line for the Andromada can be found in Grand Theft Auto IV's game files, suggesting that it (or a plane of the same name) was at some point going to feature in GTA IV.^[1]

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

• Strangely, the Andromada has a very small landing gear assembly. The airplane features one four-wheel bogie assembly at the nose, but it only features two wheel assemblies at the rear (each one placed on both sides of the aircraft, underneath the wings). Although seemingly plausible, this arrangement would not be able to carry the weight of the Andromada, and would most likely break in real life.

• Sometimes, the Andromada is seen flying very high in the sky, though rarely. Even if it is shot with a minigun (which has significant range) the plane won't explode and will most likely fly away before the player can shoot it. The plane flies very fast, so even if the player locks on to it using the Heat Seeking Launcher, the missile won't reach it.
• The Verdant Meadows airstrip is littered with many airplane wrecks. Some of these plane parts seem to very closely resemble the look of the Andromada but without the recognizable black spot on the nose and having a different horizontal stabilizer design at the rear of the fuselage. 
• The interior seen during Stowaway is actually bigger than the plane itself. The Andromada's cargo door is just wide enough for the player's motorcycle, which means that its actual cargo bay would be extremely small.
• The Andromada has an extra engine sound than can be clearly heard from the ground when it is flying high in the sky or when flying one with the camera as far as possible from the aircraft. This Also applies to the AT-400. 

Bugs/Glitches

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

• When viewed from below, the stabilizers will disappear.
• In the mobile version, when the player attempts to blow up the plane during the mission Stowaway, in some occasion the plane will sink through the ground and the mission cannot progress.

See Also

• Cargo Plane - Grand Theft Auto V equivalent.

References

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