Extract from Product Review in Mort Time
After being spoilt by the rapid responsiveness of this guys little and more aggressive brother- the famed 3497 Killcopter - at first lift this feels sluggish. Kind of see why the military version is no longer in use. It takes years to get to its top speed which is less than half of that of the 3497. It can't even out pace a SCAF for crying out loud. And, embarrassingly, the SCAF beats it on acceleration as well. Still you can't get 2 camera men, a front guy, a technician, a pilot and a sniper riding shot gun and all their equipment on a SCAF. Well not and take off.
Still the UH-204 has its charms.
The big open area in the back makes it very versatile. For the Red emergency pick ups being able to just throw things into the back without having to worry about where its going to fit and what its going to hit is a big bonus. Though it helps to making sure the far side door is firmly closed if you don't want to look too stupid :).
The mounting points are useful for locking down 'cargo' quickly, but in the copter we tested one of the mounts had been shot out, apparently by a well placed sniper shot for 'some cloak dude' who objected to being filmed. The loss of this mount meant the seat locking into this area was only held down by three points. This proved to be sufficient to hold the seat in place, even with a passenger in it, but the slight movement caused some distress.
The barrier between the Pilot section and the main body, apparently there to stop the sounds of the pilot talking to control turning up on the news broadcasts does its job just as well in reverse. So for squads with lippy combat types who think it is amusing to 'distract the driver when the vehicle is in motion' this comes highly recommended.
Single turbo shaft engine on the model we tested had seen better days, but tuned up quickly enough with a little loving care from Alexi. The bullet marks in the fuselage are meant to add charm or something. Personally I'd replace the plate rather than fill, but given the dints in the ceramic armour its more than capable of keeping the people inside in one piece. All the sensitive mechanics are well protected. We checked.
For the media dudes there are a number of well placed mounts, which could be converted to weapon mounts if you were that way inclined. Many have remote controls already rigged in so they can be controlled form inside the passenger compartment. So no more leaning out of the window. Unless you really want to.
Being used to the Dark driver and Dark Pilot systems A&A I developed the IR/UV only night flying gear felt limited. I missed the Radar feed telling me where the buildings were. The HUD feed from the pilot helmet to the front spot helped to counter this because you can at least be assured of having light where you need it, but if I was sneaking in it would be a bit of a problem.
The spot lights are fun for scaring courting couples :)
At a little over half the price of the 3497 this is a more than practical alternative. Its a nice little machine for what it is needed to do. I wouldn't take it on a black into CS1, but for a mobile media platform where bugging out when things get hot its perfect. The large internal compartment makes it a useful for cargo and delivery runs and a quick response Taxi service in these things would be profitable. But given the difficulty in getting flight clearance for anything not SLA or BPN related I can't see the little indi companies jumping for one of these soon.
Shame.
Andi, P&N for NWO
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