Up, Up, and Away! is the second to last mission in the heist strand given to Carl Johnson by Wu Zi Mu in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
This mission can only be attempted between 20:00 and 6:00.
Mission[]
Carl recently seized four HPV-1000 Police motorcycles to be used as outriders to escort the armored van Carl plans to use to haul the off the cash. His last step would be to somehow obtain an armored van and respray it with the Caligula's Casino logo, but he makes up his mind that he won't raise suspicion to his team by doing a simple carjacking. Zero gives him the idea to hijack a 'sky crane,' called a Leviathan. Carl heads over to K.A.C.C. Military Aviation Fuel Depot, the fuel depot in Spinybed, northeast Las Venturas. CJ penetrates the compound while keeping soldiers armed with M4s at bay. Carl takes down a pair of Hunters using a gun emplacement with unlimited ammo, before lifting off with the Leviathan. He heads to the depot, and using the magnetic winch attached to the helicopter, lifts an armored van and airlifts it to the airstrip in Verdant Meadows.
Mission Objectives[]
In order to complete the mission the player must:
- Steal the helicopter from the military fuel dump, the gates will open for a military vehicle
- They have sent two gunships to intercept you, use the gun emplacement to destroy them
- The gunships have been destroyed, get to the chopper and get out of there
- Go to the depot and pick up the bank van using the helicopter's winch
- Take the van to the Aircraft Graveyard in the desert
- Land the helicopter in the indicated zone
Reward[]
The reward for completing the mission is increased Respect and the Leviathan will always spawn at the Aircraft Graveyard in Verdant Meadows unless the player has unlocked the Hunter, then it will only spawn when arriving from east.
This is also the final preparation step for the heist at Caligula's (if Carl also received the casino keycard).
Transcript[]
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Post-Mission Phone Call[]
This phone call only takes place if the player has not yet collected the keycard.
Woozie: "Carl, it's Woozie!"
CJ: "Hey, wassup man?"
Woozie: "You get that pass key yet?"
CJ: "Nah, but I'm working on it."
Woozie: "What's the problem, friend? Just get her in the sack, make her happy and grab the card!"
CJ: "Eh, you should know you can't rush the seduction of a lady."
Woozie: "Okay, just gimme a call when you've got it."
CJ: "'A'ight."
Video Walkthroughs[]
Alternate Solutions[]
There are at least four different ways of getting into the depot.
- As suggested by the BradyGames official strategy book, head for the main gate, wait for a Patriot to drive through the gates, and then sneak through.
- Follow the Patriot after it leaves the depot, jack it (it can be tricky to catch) and drive it through the gate.
Both the above solutions will result in Carl getting into a firefight and having to pass through a warehouse to get to the helicopter.
- A third option is to head to Verdant Meadows, get the jetpack, and fly to the helipad. There will be attacks by RPGs and soldiers on the helipad. however, if one lands in the roof of the warehouse, it's possible to take them out with a Sniper Rifle. This method also has the disadvantage of not indicating where the gun emplacements are located. However, if the player is carrying a minigun, the two enemy helicopters can be destroyed easily and the helicopter taken.
- A fourth option is to get a Packer (one is parked in a compound directly west of the Military Fuel Depot) and park it facing towards the gates if they won't open, then getting a nearby car and driving it up the ramp in order to get Carl into the compound.
- A simple solution is to acquire a Coach. Drive up to the gates and park it sideways so it blocks the gates. Make sure the gates open (at least one side) and the Patriot will be prevented from leaving. Carl is then free to perform other activities, such as taking out guards with a Sniper Rifle, before entering the compound. Note that after a period of time, vehicles left in front of the gate will disappear and the gate will close again.
- Another way would require going to the airport and steal a Dodo (other planes are too big) and fly to the helipad. Land there (by pulling up the nose and stalling the plane) or parachute there.
- The vehicle the player used before entering the casino, will remain after the cutscene. It is possible to use any aerial vehicle to head to K.A.C.C. Military Fuels (tested on PS2).
Oversights[]
- On the PS2 version, the
button, used for the hover control, does not always work. (Pressing it will simply result in the helicopter lowering to the ground). And the Right Analog control does not always work properly either, making the van pick-up portion of the mission difficult to complete. - Being killed while using the mounted minigun allows the player to obtain a minigun that has unlimited ammo. If Carl restarts the mission and uses the mounted minigun, he will immediately lose it.
Trivia[]
- The name of this mission is a reference to the catchphrase by Superman.
- A special minigun with unlimited ammo is located in this mission, but a jetpack must be used to obtain it. First, use the jetpack until the player follows the game's instruction to use the gun emplacement. Do not remove the jetpack. Then go to the red circle where it shows "Press RETURN to use." Use it even if the jetpack is still on. After using it, Carl will find himself with a hand-held minigun with infinite ammo.
- Alternatively, the player can use the gun emplacement, and get killed while using it, though it requires the player to be dating Katie Zhan before. Upon respawning at the hospital, Carl will have a minigun with unlimited ammo.
- If the player uses the "minigun with unlimited ammo" trick in this mission and does the mission Air Raid after this mission, Carl will lose his minigun. This is due to the fact that in the mission Air Raid, the player also uses a minigun with unlimited ammo which is scripted to be lost after the mission ends.
- This mission also allows the player to easily level up their skill with any weapon to the hitman level, all Carl needs to do is progress to the point where he needs to enter the gun emplacement to destroy the Hunters, but instead of using the emplacement, use any weapon of the player's choice to take potshots at the Hunters.
- Although the game says that the guards will only open the gates for military vehicles, driving any vehicle in will still sound the alarm.
- This is the only time where a Hunter is piloted by the military.
- Neither police or pedestrian motorcycles seem to spawn in the game world after tripping the alarm at the compound.[ref?]
- It seems that the objective Securicar is scripted to be significantly lighter, as the Leviathan otherwise struggles to pick up even a small civilian car such as a Bravura.
- The Leviathan which Carl steals spawns on the helipad only during this mission, as outside of it, the helipad is occupied by a Cargobob.
Continuity Error[]
Most mission cutscenes are scripted in such a way that if CJ hasn't yet completed a particular mission that is not part of a mandatory strand, it doesn't affect the narrative. However in this mission's cutscene Zero makes a reference to fighting Berkley, which becomes meaningless if the player hasn't played Air Raid and the other missions of the Zero strand yet (in fact, the Zero missions are completely optional for completing the game, though still required for 100% completion status, so they can be played out anytime before and/or after the endgame). This can suggest that canonically Zero's missions are completed before this mission.
