How to fly a plane in GTA Online: A beginner’s guide

Cars, boats, bikes and planes are a few of the vehicles that players can use in GTA Online. While some of these vehicles have straightforward controls, flying vehicles in the game operate differently. Be it on PC or console, flying vehicles change the control layout completely.

GTA Online has a variety of planes and flying them can be challenging if players are new to the game. Flying is one of the more important skills that needs to be learned while playing GTA Online as it is a part of quite a few missions and heists. Players can expect to crash a few planes before being able to fly one smoothly.

When it comes to flying a plane, players need to learn how to take off, maneuver and land a plane in GTA Online. This can all be quite challenging for new players and here is a guide to help them understand the mechanics of flying.

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A beginner's guide to flying a plane in GTA Online

Buying a plane

The first task for players to learn how to fly is to get a plane.

Players need to buy a hangar in GTA Online to be able to purchase planes. Once the player purchases a hangar from the Maze Bank Foreclosure website, they need to finish the cut scene with Ron and make their way to the computer to setup the business. For the setup, players will need to steal the Cuban 800 plane and return it to the Hangar. The Cuban 800 then becomes available for players to use in the game.

Players can buy other planes by opening their phones and going to elitastravel.com to purchase a plane of their liking. They can also go and pick a plane up from the airports in GTA Online.

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Flying the plane

When a player gets into an aircraft, they need to learn to take off. The aircraft needs to be throttled forward on a flat road by pressing W on the keyboard. Once the aircraft has enough momentum, pressing the Aircraft pitch backwards button will raise the nose off the ground (NUM5), propelling the aircraft into the air. Once the plane is airborne, pressing G will retract the wheels.

How to fly an aircraft using a PS4 controller (Image via gta.fandom.com)

The aircraft can be steered by pressing A and D to tilt the plane in a certain direction. It can be rolled to the left or right by pressing NUM4 and NUM6, respectively.

How to fly an aircraft using a keyboard and mouse (Image via gta.fandom.com)

To land the aircraft, players must start pressing the S button to decelerate the plane while pressing NUM8 to pitch the nose toward the ground. Pressing G will pull out the wheels for the aircraft to be able to land.

Special keys like the Left Mouse Button can be used to fire mounted weapons on weaponized aircraft like the Hydra. The E button can be pressed to use the grappling hook provided in utility and cargo aircraft.