Vertibird

Vertibird is a designation for a series of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft. These multipurpose tiltrotor aircraft were developed by the United States military and rapidly became a primary gunship and transport aircraft.

Developed by the Department of Defense as early as 2072, the original Vertibird was created as a multipurpose tiltrotor vertical take-off aircraft. While utilized early on in the days before the Great War, Hornwright Industrial got word of its development, and began planning the use of it for their own methods. Following the success of the initial design, the military commenced work on a superior model, hoping to improve on virtually every aspect of the original: Better armor, better weapons, better speed and cargo capacity, everything. When the Great War struck in 2077, the XVB02 Vertibird was still in the prototype phase, scheduled to enter full military service in 2085. Limited trial runs were developed and pressed into service, including winterized models during the last stages of the Battle of Anchorage. The Enclave would finish prototyping the XVB02 at the Control Station Enclave, along with the X-01 power armor sometime after the Great War and begin producing the XVB02 en masse.

The second-generation Vertibird was produced into two distinct versions: a transport design, with a large glass canopy, six non-retractable landing struts, a spacious cargo bay and seven-bladed rotors for extra lift, and a gunship, with a heavily armored hull, four rotor blades, four retractable landing struts, and better armament. These were used extensively in field operations across the United States. Around 2242, the plans for the Vertibird were stolen from the Navarro base, making it possible that the Vertibird plans ended up in the hands of various factions of the wasteland. The destruction of the oil rig later that year has likely destroyed a large number of aircraft in the Enclave's service. When the Navarro military base was later conquered by the NCR, all of the Vertibirds stationed at the base were put into military service. One aircraft was assigned for transporting the NCR President, receiving a special green, white, and gold paint scheme as well as the designation Bear Force One.

Design

The Vertibird has a heavily armored fuselage and can be outfitted with a variety of offensive weapons and defensive countermeasures, the most common being Gatling lasers, missile racks, and a mini nuke bay. It is unknown how a Vertibird is powered; however, dialogue with the Enclave remnants indicate a combustible fuel source. It has a winch that can haul several tons of equipment - or a large deathclaw cage.

There are two known versions of the craft used by the Enclave:

A transport-oriented version with a glass canopy, six legs, a large cargo bay, and seven blades on each rotor to provide extra lift. This was the variant used before the Destruction of Control Station Enclave.

A dedicated gunship version with a more heavily armored hull, four-bladed rotors, and four retractable landing struts as well as greater maneuverability.

Flight

The Vertibird's VTOL flight mechanics allow it to approach landing zones with the speed of a fixed-wing aircraft and transition into a hovering mode of flight, by tilting its rotors vertically upwards 90 degrees. Given this extreme amount of maneuverability, the Vertibird is regarded as a formidable force in the Fallout universe.

While the design of a Vertibird is convenient, its dual rotor-blades serve as a flight hazard, for if the aircraft were to suffer a single rotary malfunction at a substantial altitude, the Vertibird's airframe and distribution of down-wash would cause the aircraft to fall on its side in a dramatic and likely fatal crash, due to its narrow landing gear footprint and high center of gravity, would easily topple to the side during landing.

Combat

Vertibirds are mostly supporting craft, but they will attack in a few circumstances. They are a significant threat for a wide array of reasons, but the biggest is that they pack an enormous amount of firepower on an extremely well-armored chassis. Their weapons include a nose-mounted Gatling laser, a minigun on the left side of the Vertibird for passengers, a pair of missile launchers, and a bomb rack for mini nukes. All of these weapons are threatening; the missile launcher deals heavy damage and can knock an opponent back, the Gatling laser can deal a lot of damage from afar, the minigun is used to mow down large amounts of infantry, and the mini nukes, used in airstrikes against heavy targets and placed defenses, can instantly kill a hostile.

Vertibirds tasked with fire support are the biggest threat, as they eliminate engaging hostile forces to back up Enclave troops on the ground. These Vertibirds often perform bombing runs and make several passes to eliminate any resistance in the area. Vertibirds on these support flights may open fire with their missile launchers or Gatling lasers, though they do not use them as much as their mini nukes.

Vertibirds can sometimes be encountered on the ground. One instance is on the steps of the Capitol Building in the Capital Wasteland. In these cases, upon finding one of the parked Vertibirds, there should be a cage containing a deathclaw inside. When engaged in combat, the Enclave officer nearest to the cage will often let the deathclaw loose.

In the Commonwealth, Vertibirds lack the large armament package seen in the Capital Wasteland and are only armed with two fixed forward-firing machine guns and a crew operated minigun mounted on the left-hand side. When dropping the Sole Survivor off in an area inhabited with hostiles, the Vertibird will sometimes support the player character by firing on the hostiles with its machine guns.

In the Manhattan Metropolitan are, Vertibirds are known to be used extensibly by The Institude