A Helitours Maverick taking off at the Higgins Helitours helipad.
Higgins Helitours is a helitour company in Grand Theft Auto IV, Episodes From Liberty City and Grand Theft Auto V.
Description
GTA IV
Higgins Helitours gives helitours using the company's own Mavericks at a price of $150 for each ride. A Higgins advertisement on TV boasts the advantages of helitours over bus tours, claiming a fun and safe adventure in the sky (while footage shows various helicopters crashing at land and sea; unfortunately, there is no such danger when the player takes a tour).
The company bases its operations at a landing platform situated off the shores of Castle Gardens and Fishmarket South, Algonquin on Bus Lane Street. The layout of the landing platform as well as its location hint that the helipad may be based on the Downtown Manhattan Heliport in New York City, although the terminal building is completely different.
Pedestrians can be seen waiting in line to enter the helicopters. When a helicopter is free, at most three will approach and enter the helicopter. The pilot will take off, giving tours to them.
The name Higgins is apparently a reference to a character in the TV show Magnum P.I., and the tour company was originally to be named "Magnum Helitours".[1] The company uses the slogan "We'll never go down on you", a reference to oral sex.
GTA V
Higgins Helitours appears once again in Grand Theft Auto V. It is located at the Vespucci Helipad on Shank Street in Puerto Del Sol. Even though you cannot take a helitour in the game, it is possible to buy the helipad with Franklin or Michael and store your own helicopters.
Types of Tours
- Around Broker. Includes Humboldt River, Broker, Broker Bridge, Hove Beach, Firefly Island, Fishmarket North Harbour.
- West Algonquin. Includes Chinatown, The Exchange, Castle Gardens, West River, Statue of Happiness, Civic Citadel.
- East Algonquin. Includes Colony Island, The Von Crastenburg Center, Rotterdam Tower, Libertonian, Middle Park East, East Holland Projects, GetaLife Building, Civic Citadel .
- North Algonquin. Includes Daily Globe, Cleethorpes Tower, Libertonian, North Holland, Vespucci University, Golden Pier, South Algonquin, Castle Gardens construction site (from Deconstruction for Beginners).
- The major bridges. Includes Broker Bridge, Charge Island, Algonquin Bridge, East Holland Projects, Middle Park, Columbus Cathedral.
Flying all tours at least once will earn the player the Sightseer achievement. The different tours are obtainable by boarding each of the helicopters in turn. Not all helicopters will be there at the same time; usually two or three at a time are available.
Pilots
Trivia
Grand Theft Auto IV and Episodes
- During multiplayer in GTA IV and Party Mode in The Lost and Damned, 4 Annihilators spawn here instead of the Helitours Mavericks. In The Ballad of Gay Tony multiplayer, a Buzzard will spawn here.
- Helitours pilots will appear at Francis International Airport with pedestrian behavior (i.e. smoking).
- During the tour that leads along the major bridges, the pilot makes a mistake when he tells about the lighthouse of Charge Island. He means the lighthouse of Colony Island.
- Luis Fernando Lopez was trained at Higgins Helitours. A certificate in Luis' Apartment proves this.
- Killing the pilot of a helicopter before he lands and after taking off without destroying the helicopter will continue the tour as it normally would until the helicopter lands which will cause it to continuously spin in circles.
- In The Ballad of Gay Tony, there is a small parking lot outside the Helitours Building but in Grand Theft Auto IV and The Lost & Damned, there is just pavement there.
- When taking the tours in The Lost & Damned, Johnny Klebitz will mostly reply back to the pilot by complaining about the helicopter itself, because he is scared of heights.
Grand Theft Auto V
- In GTA V, there is a Higgins Helitours sign close to the real estate sign of the Vespucci Helipad, although apparently there are no helitours available.
Glitches
- If you start shooting an airborne Higgins Helitours Maverick flying over your position with a Sniper Rifle, a three star Wanted Level will be given to you, just as if you were shooting an LCPD Police Maverick. The Helitours Maverick will then fly towards you, and once again, just like a Police Maverick, it will begin to hover over you, even though there are no police officers inside.
