The Armadillo is a helicopter used by the Vice City Fire Department in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories.
Design
Similar in design to the Bell 412, the Armadillo is a relatively large helicopter intended for use as an emergency vehicle. The Armadillo is only seen in a white with blue color, with the "VCS-1172" stencil on the engine covers.
The fire department version has a bucket attached by a rope, which is used to carry water from the sea to the fires.
Performance
The Armadillo possess a relatively good speed, with moderately steep pitches that help increase its acceleration at the expense of losing altitude faster.
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 |
Gallery
A bucket-equipped Armadillo hovering over the sea.
During the side mission Fire Copter.
A beta Armadillo, lacking the side doors.
Prominent Appearances in Gameplay
- Say Cheese – An Armadillo is used by Reni Wassulmaier in order to record a commercial in which Victor Vance performs various stunts.
- Farewell To Arms – An Armadillo is used to defend Gonzalez from being attacked by the Sharks, with Vic Vance firing a machine gun from it.
- Smuggling – An Armadillo is used as the drop-off helicopter; sometimes, a Sea Sparrow or a Maverick is used instead.
- Fire Copter – An Armadillo is used during the side mission.
Locations
- On the large field behind the fire station in Downtown. It appears here only after passing From Zero to Hero. Entering a FDVC Armadillo starts the Fire Copter side mission, in which the player has to get sea water and use it to put out fires on rooftops. The player can avoid activating the side mission upon entry into the helicopter by pushing it away from its spawn point using a heavy road vehicle or even the player character itself (by sprinting against the helicopter).
Trivia
- In the game files, the Armadillo 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 Air Ambulance, the Little Willie, the Sea Sparrow and the Sparrow.
See Also
- Air Ambulance – Which shares the same body design as the Armadillo.
- The police helicopter and helicopter in Grand Theft Auto III, also based on a Bell 412.
- Raindance – Another emergency helicopter used for the same purpose in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
- Valkyrie – A gunship helicopter added into Grand Theft Auto Online in the Heists update based on the Bell UH-1Y Venom, superficially resembling a military version of the Armadillo.