The Cropduster is a fixed-wing airplane in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Design

The Cropduster closely resembles a Grumman Ag Cat Cropduster, with a partially longer wingspan and fuselage length.

The Cropduster is a biplane intended to spray pesticides over a large area in a small amount of time, having a relatively compact fuselage. The front section has a rounded nose with the main engine and a two-bladed propeller, followed by the fixed main landing undercarriage. In the middle section, the aircraft features large wings with dedicated ailerons and the pesticide system mounted on the lower wings, along with a canopy that swings to the right, similar to the Rustler and the Hydra. The tail boom/empennage is relatively short and features the corresponding stabilizers and tail wheel. Pressing the action/sub-mission button will activate the plane's pesticides (although the pesticides themselves serve no real purpose).

The aircraft's fuselage, wings and stabilizers are painted with the primary color, while the front and side portions of the wings, as well as the elevators and rudder, are painted with the secondary color.

Performance

The Cropduster has a massive amount of lift, allowing it to easily other comparably-sized aircraft such as the Skimmer and Stuntplane, and is even capable of outclimbing some helicopters such as the Leviathan and Cargobob. Thus, it has a very low takeoff distance, and can continue flight at speeds as slow as 30 mph. When flying level at max throttle, it will continue to gain altitude, such that the plane's nose must be dipped in order to maintain the current altitude.

The aircraft has a powerful rudder and elevator authority, among the most agile planes in the game, however, its roll rate leaves much to be desired. Due to its relatively long wingspan and the fact that only two of the four ailerons function, its roll rate is understandably poor. Similarly, due to the narrow undercarriage and large wingspan, the Cropduster may scrape along the ground and/or hit an obstacle when taxiing around.

Like the majority of planes, it has little to no endurance and is highly susceptible to damage, and like other propeller planes, it will stall when the player attempts to fly it vertically.

The Cropduster is powered by what looks like a 12-cylinder radial engine (a rather strange configuration, as radial engines are supposed to have an odd number of cylinders). It emits a high-pitched sound also shared with the Dodo and the Skimmer.

Performance Overview

Locations

• On the top of the hill in Flint County between Foster Valley and The Farm, beside a small shack.
• Parked near a building to the north of Hunter Quarry and south of Octane Springs in Bone County, parked near some static caravans.
• It can occasionally be seen flying over rural areas, particularly Blueberry Acres and The Panopticon.

Radio Stations

• In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the Cropduster plays K-DST.

Specifications

Model

Traffic Default Colors

Trivia

• The Cropduster in Flint County is the first aircraft available to fly in the game (excluding the ones at Los Santos International Airport, which can be entered from the start by hopping the airport gate via a large vehicle as it is not supposed to be unlocked until the pilot's license is acquired during Learning to Fly).
• Similar to the Stuntplane, only the lower ailerons move to provide the plane's roll capabilities. The upper ones remain static.
• Despite the fact that the Cropduster is equipped with a spraying system located under the wings, the pesticides are ejected out of the rear of the plane, in a similar fashion to the Stuntplane.
  • The pesticide particles will appear to drop faster than than Stuntplane's aerial smoke, however, in actuality they maintain altitude at the same rate as the Stuntplane's smoke. The pesticide only appears to drop relative to the plane because the Cropduster is almost always rising in altitude, even at median speeds.
• If the Cropduster is seen flying in the sky, it appears to have the same engine sound as the Stuntplane and the Rustler. However, if the player pilots it, it will have a different engine sound similar to the Dodo/Skimmer.
• Like other planes that tilt upwards when parked (such as the Stuntplane, Nevada and Rustler) the plane will roll backwards when the Cars drive on water cheat is enabled.
• Due to its small size and short takeoff, it can even be reasonably stored in many garages, especially in the Hashbury Safehouse, where it can land and take off within the space of the alleyway leading to the garage, and the garage door being wide enough to accept the plane's wingspan without having to physically push the plane out.
• In the mobile version of GTA San Andreas, the pesticides cannot be activated due to the activator button not being included. However, if the player connects a gamepad to his/her device and presses the action/sub-mission button, the pesticides will be sprayed like normal.
• It is the among the smallest airplanes in the game, smaller than the Dodo in wingspan, length, and smaller than the Stuntplane in length and height, however possessing a longer wingspan than the latter.

See Also

• Duster – Spiritual successor to the Cropduster in Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online.

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