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GTA San Andreas Hydra guide - How to fly the Hydra and where to find it

Fly high

The Hydra in GTA San Andreas is one of the best vehicles in the game, but how to fly the Hydra isn’t quite as simple as it might seem.

The Hydra controls are finicky, and it’s easy to crash if you’re not careful. Still, with this kind of speed and power, the risk of fiery death is surely worth it. If you’re flying, you may as well be flying the best. Hydra is the fastest plane in San Andreas and one of the more versatile since it can hover and has powerful weaponry.

GTA San Andreas Hydra locations

The Hydra can spawn in three potential locations.

  • San Fierro aircraft carrier
  • Las Venturas restricted area
  • The abandoned airstrip north of the restricted area, after you complete “Vertical Bird.”

If you’re playing on PC, you can also command jumpjet to make one appear.

On PlayStation and Xbox, you can use the code Triangle/ Y, Triangle/ Y, Square/ X, Circle/ B, X/ A, L1/ LB, L1/ LB, Down, Up to make a Hydra appear out of thin air.

How to get the Hydra in GTA San Andreas

Once you find the Hydra, you just get in. It’s a game with vehicle theft in the title, after all.

How to fly the Hydra in GTA San Andreas

Hydra controls are a bit more involved than most vehicles, though.

Raise/lower landing gear Rise higher/lower Control jet Speed up/hover Slow down
PlayStation Press right stick X Left stick Move right stick forward/return stick to position Pull right stick back
Xbox Press right stick A Left stick Move right stick forward/return stick to position Pull right stick back
PC "+" or 2 Up/down keys Q/E W/2 S

When you take off, you need to raise your landing gear. On console, use the right stick to adjust the thrusters and speed up, or you can hover if you want. You'll need to lower the landing gear and start to slow down if you want to land (without dying). It's also worth noting Hydra is very fast and not necessarily suitable for every situation, though if you need to get to your girlfriend quickly, there are few better choices.

While using the Hydra might feel like cheating, it's nothing compared to GTA San Andreas' actual cheats. Hydra's guns won't save you once your on foot again either, so you'll want to brush up on San Andreas' best weapons too.

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