Fallout Vertibird Analysis | A Fallout Evolution Story

[@spydingo]

Oh hey there! I'm back and I made another thing. I hope you enjoy! Also if you did enjoy and I haven't earned your sub yet, maybe consider it yeah? Thank you!

[@jaisummons2304]

Fallout 3: mark 2 combat power armor. X-02 Brotherhood captured enclave science Fallout 4: X-01 Brotherhood goldfish was invented by prisoners from the enclave It's slower, weaker, uses fuel for the jet engine, and smaller It's like a down grade.

[@RazorsharpLT]

The bird is not a conventional engine model. The "limited by the fuel i could carry" is the same way you are limited by the fuel cells you can carry in the Highwayman in Fallout 2.

[@TheMagmaKnigh]

The drop tank on the Gold Fish could be for coolant to the reactor. It would explain why in the Far Harbor DLC if you tell the Brotherhood about Acadia they mention the need to refit the vertibird for long range travel. I always assumed this was either unloading Munitions or Adding a larger coolant tank to make sure they can make the flight without running out

[@spydingo]

That's a great theory! I'd love Bethesda to explain how coolant works, would help provide a lot of context to red rockets too. That does bring up another question though, where is the coolant coming from hundreds of years after the Great War if it is expendable?

[@polloleviatano5754]

@@spydingo well from what I know some sort of coolant can be made with water and borium that shouldn’t be too hard to find

[@callsignapollo_]

The main issue with coolants across any machine is often ratios and evaporation. I imagine with the setups of the boom-arms as well as the standard pumps that part of the reason (as well as the well documented inflation) that the coolant is so expensive is because its less like filling a gas tank and more like an oil change, done less frequently but requiring much more setup to do it, and would also explain the red rocket mechanic jumpsuits, if it acted more like a drive thru oil change

[@rostundradau3442]

Oh that makes sense i assumed they were floats for emergency water landing or something

[@volatile_gaming9475]

The XVB-02 seems to fit the Hind Gunship more than fallout 4s VB-01 which seems more like a medium-lift utility helicopter like a Huey

[@spydingo]

Agreed, at least as far as role goes. I don't think any of the vertibirds really resemble the hind personally, but I suppose that's the subjective nature of art. There are a lot more functional similarities with the Huey indeed. Thanks for commenting, I really appreciate it!

[@Jack_Dab]

Seeing how fallout tactics is semi canon and had crashed hueys it would make sense that it would be an evolution of the huey.

[@misterpotato427]

Nuclear Huey

[@stealthSGMB]

Ngl I really love the rendition of the “XVB-03” you made. I hope some artsy people pick it up. I think it would looks badass.

[@spydingo]

Thanks! I hope so too!

[@SamuraiTex84]

considering there is a mod that changes the VB in game to the NV style model, getting someone to hash them together would be possible already

[@andrews_lego_tanks_and_more]

A theory I always had was since the design was in a prototype stage, the US army could have been testing two different designs from two separate manufacturers in order to find the design they liked more. Perhaps the model that one the bid was the one from the first few games and the one seen in 4 and 76 was losing interest in the pentagon, since the other model was chosen for combat service testing. Regardless, it seemed several different unites were given these models to test and evaluate.

[@spydingo]

Like a YF-22 and YF-23 situation, good point!

[@callsignapollo_]

The us military has a long history of half-deployments and small batch, multi-manufacturer development or procurement trials, so it wouldnt be too suprising for two airframe models to be tested side by side

[@lmshutt]

This was my take as well. Competition vs evolution. It may also fit with how the -02 had limited deployment yet the -01 is common on the east coast. The -02 may have been able to go into limited production earlier thus was deployed first. The -01, much like the T-60 power armor, was then assigned to units training for deployment but diverted to deal with civil unrest. There is also a good reason to not drop PA out at high altitude. PA may be able to land with no fall damage if they do so feet first, however all bets are off if you straddle a stone fence or land on your side. With no directional or stability control a drop from over a few hundred feet would be very risky considering how hard it would be to know exactly where you will land. In addition dropping from an aircraft in motion would spread out the squad.

[@trainknut]

​@@callsignapollo_ Not just the US, it's the tale of firearms and military technology development going back centuries - find out who the best weapon makers are, get them to compete for your order, pick whichever is superior... It's time-tested, and while it has flaws, it's still the way we decide on equipment today, just look at the competition for the US Army M5 rifle. Fun fact, the FN MAG has both lost, and then later won US military trials against the M60... becoming one of a very rare breed of firearms that have lost trials to another gun only to end up replacing it anyway.

[@MidanMagistrate]

19:24 Power Armor doesnt actually negate fall damage, thats just a gameplay feature. Proctor Ingram tells you about how she fell off a cliff in Power Armor and nearly died.

[@spydingo]

Hmm, I agree it doesn't make sense that it could completely negate fall damage like in the game, but I'd prefer to give it more meaning than just for gameplay. Mayhap it depends on the height (Ignoring the fact you can jump from a skyscraper no problem) and a 3 or 4 story fall is fine, but the grand canyon not.

[@MidanMagistrate]

@@spydingo I think even 3 stories would be too much, but it'd still be an advantage for troops to be able to fall 10 feet into battle. Imagine using it tactically, enemies a floor below you, and jumping down to literally get the drop on them

[@PretzelSage]

​@@MidanMagistratei think the fall from the top of the museum in FO4 is supposed to be pushing how high your character can fall from. especially since it looks like theyre taking a lot of the force from the fall.

[@tylerellis9097]

Uh what? Yes it does, there’s a terminal on the Prydwen that talks about a competition Bos members jumping from as high as they can without damaging their power armor.

[@bluethunderbolt9631]

​@@tylerellis9097 and the highest jump so far with an unmodified Power Armor is Prydwen to ground. With modifications such as calibrated shocks, I suppose you can take it a bit further.

[@mitchelledwin105]

I think the fall damage immunity is largely exclusive to gameplay functionality -- if I remember correctly there's a terminal on the Prydwen that talks about a competition where they jump from....... either the airship or one of the buildings in the city, and "if you break your legs, you're disqualified" or something like that. That said, power armour units COULD still hop out, just from a lower height, and potentially on the move (albeit not full tilt).

[@tinaherr3856]

You know, there are theories that for the Fallout 3/New Vegas Vertibirds, specifically their visibility. It is theorized that they have some automated systems, allowing the Vertibird to see and fly. This theiry is mainly supported by the existence of automated Vertibots in Fallout 76, showing that Vertibirds can be fitted with autopilot systems.

[@spydingo]

Certainly could be possible, maybe even quite likely given that the Vertibots are converted from what is often proposed to be the XVB-01. It would stand to reason that a more advanced system should be just as capable of being automated, even more so since the XVB-02 varient had more time to cook so to speak. Thanks for the callout!

[@TheMagmaKnigh]

I would love to see you talk about some of the civilian vehicles like the flying car (Fallout 76), or the Vault-tec van. I'm excited to see the passenger airplanes with the crazy passenger compartment in the wings

[@spydingo]

Next up I'm doing that "loco"motive from fallout 4, since over a hundred people upvoted that suggestion in my last video. I'm sure I'll get to the passenger jet though, its both a past concept in the Junkers G.38 and a future concept in the "Flying V", would be a lot of fun to talk about!

[@MarkoDash]

@@spydingo trying this again without the link, youtube keeps auto deleting my comment. the FO4 airliner is interesting to me more for the engines than the seating. in the 50's nuclear powered turbojets were being looked at, and the most promising design (because it used indirect cycle heating thus no radioactive exhaust) was a reactor powering a quartet of turbines, the turbines need to be clustered close to the reactor because they are using the extremely hot coolant piped from the reactor to heat the intake air instead of combustion. a drawing of this arrangement can be found here (link Removed) the reactor weighed 1500lbs and each turbine weighed 3100lbs. each turbine's maximum output was IIRC only 12,000lbs of thrust, so 48,000lbs of thrust from a reactor/turbine cluster that weighs about 14,000lbs. compare this to the engines that powered the Boeing 707, the JT3D, it weighs 4600lbs and produces 17,000lbs of thrust. so four of these would weigh 18,400lbs but produce 68,000lbs of thrust. and what do we see on the fallout airliner? a quartet of turbine inlets in each of the midwing tail booms (with a fifth intake on the side that doesn't seem to have a turbine in it) which lines up nicely with the system above. so we can assume the FO4 airliner has two reactors, one in each boom, driving 8 (or possibly 10) turbines so a combined thrust of 96,000 (or 120,000) pounds of thrust. this should put it in equivalence to the Boeing 767 which uses a pair of 48,000-60,000lbs thrust CF6 engines, but with the benefit of having a nearly unlimited range.

[@helline9]

@@spydingo Can you do one on the airplanes of Fallout? A comparison of the 'Skylanes' passenger plane and the Stingray to the Nazi & Northrop flying wings would be cool.

[@kookoobrick54]

The "portholes" on the Fallout 3 and NV models could be exhaust vents or air intakes for one system or another. The reactor may still produce a lot of heat.

[@salty1201]

1:54 i really like the detail of the contra rotating props, shows you know a lil about aviation

[@spydingo]

Thanks for the Props >.>

[@MegaDanielSJ]

I love so much the concept of a "40.000 ton flying aircraft carrier" and i have spent hours studying it, so here is what i came with about the video. (It was a great video by the way, the best on the subject i've seen so far, i have subscribed and hope you do a video about the Prydwen soon :D ) The main reason i think the XBV-01 "drops like flies" in Fallout 4 is for gameplay reasons. Imagine a armored tank with 2 machine guns and one minigun flying around the Community, it would be impossible to play this game in any other faction than BoS and that would be boring for the player. For the same reason the troops inside arent all wearing power armors (even when we know its Brotherhood standart) and thats why it need to land to deploy the troops. A curious fact about the lore is that in the game we see a maximum capacity of 4 vertbird in the Prydwen, in the concept art we see that it have 6 docking stations, unlike the 4 we see in game, and in the Prydwen arrival scene we can see 5 vertbirds at all times (it would be impossible with only 4 docking stations) implying that the concept art Prydwen is canon and it has the capability to carry 6 vertbirds. Unlike during free gameplay (when its not a scripted scene or in concept art) that you can destroy as many vertbirds as you want and they keep respawning, imagine if they were as OP as we hope and you played as Institute... Also it does make sense to only have 6 vertbirds because it would justify why Maxson says that giving you the signal granades is so important, its because he is committing 1/6 of his air power to you I dont think the XBV-01 its nuclear, since in the Far Harbour DLC Captain Kells says "we'll need time to re-fit vertbirds to extended flight". Or isnt nuclear or that "drop tank" that you doesnt understend its meant to have some cooling liquid to the reactor. I agree that the XBV-01 interior in fallout 4 isnt good, but i think that the Fallout 76 Pitt version of it its the canon one, that you can easily carry at least 4 power armor soldiers in it (since the BoS is always using 4 soldiers in any vertbird and the stantard is all of them in power armors). And yeah, the Sparkfish would be amazing to see, but since it doesnt exist the Goldfish is by far my favorite, i think it fits functionality and the Fallout aesthetic pretty well. All the points that you made about maintenance and training could be explained by the BoS having the Adams Air Force base with all equipment and spare parts. Really enjoyed you video and hope you keep making them, i love this kind of discussion and the quality is amazing.

[@spydingo]

Thanks and thanks for the Sub as well! I absolutely will. The Prydwen will give me a chance to talk about the US's ill-fated airship program. Oh I absolutely agree its for gameplay reasons. I played around with one of the mods out there that gives vertibirds mininukes and reasonable health and it was a certified nightmare lol. I still think the mechanized units should jump out first to secure the LZ for the squishy units though. Well dang, that is curious, I had no idea the docking stations and vertibirds didn't match up. I'll have to take a look at that when I get to the Prydwen. This entire paragraph is in a google doc for safe keeping, thanks! That's fair, the only indication I really had to go on to say it was nuclear powered is the fact it blows up like a mininuke and emits radiation in the same fashion. That would raise an interesting question though, were is the fuel coming from? Is there fuel remaining at the Boston Airport? Also is the Prydwen capable of hauling fuel? Oh man, another new fallout 76 thing I didn't know about. I've found an image online now, and boy howdy it does look a lot better. Puts it much more on par with the Sparx version. Although both share the problem of how the heck does this space fit inside the known exterior dimensions lol. Having seen the new interior, I can get behind that pick. Just replace the upper glass sections with armored plating and you've got a pretty good looking and functional bird. That makes sense, ngl I forgot about Adams Airforce base. Its been to long since I've played 3, let alone Broken Steel. I'm glad you enjoyed! I hope I can keep it up!

[@MegaDanielSJ]

@@spydingo Glad i could help with this future project! If i may add, a lot of people say that the hydrogen tanks in the Prydwen arent enough to provide lift, and thats true because they are not for lift. Most of the lift came from the 4 jets around the ship, the hydrogen tanks are only provide the capacity to "dive" and "ascend". Yeah in real life theres no way to generate jets with electric energy, but in fallout thats the main discovery that made all nuclear (including Mister Handy and his jet), they could use propellers like SHIELD carrier (and i think one concept art uses) but the jets are way more cool and are canon (as i said in Mister Handy for example). We can see this in Proctor Ingram dialogue, as she need as much reactor coolant as possible, otherwise they will have to land the ship on the airport. I like military doctrine a lot so i was thinking about how the ship would be used in real life, that include the Vertbirds. I do think the canon BoS Vertbird troops would be 2 pilots, 2 door gunners (i do think they use 2 miniguns instead of one) and at least 4 Power armor soldiers. Drop them from high altitude and do gun runs with the machine guns to support the soldiers. As for the Prydwen she is like a carrier and THE CARRIER NEVER STOPS, in all Fallout 4 endings that the Brotherhood is destroyed is because she is docked on the airport, if it was moving over the sea (as it would in real life) this would never happen. The reactor coolant is a good excuse but you dont go for a war if you dont have the resources, and it would be safer to just transport all the troops and armor to the airport and head back to the Washington. Anyways... You are right, the Goldfish must be nuclear otherwise doesnt make sense at all the radiation, after watching your video i searched for the Vertibots (i didnt play 76 just watched some things, and i was very happy to found the Pitt interior on XVB-01 lol) and theres NO WAY they could keep flying to this day if it wasnt nuclear powered. So maybe this "drop tank" its for the coolant or its a inflatable device to "land" in water as we see in all navy helicopters in real life.

[@colecleveland8179]

I always loved the sparks variant the most as well. I'm really happy to see such a cool concept of combining the two at the end, I bet I'm not alone when I say I like the concept most of all. Keep up the great work!

[@spydingo]

I'm glad you liked it, I think it turned out a lot better than I expected. Thanks, I'll try!

[@evanwickstrom5698]

@@spydingo I genuinely want to see someone mod that into Fallout 4 now

[@DaUziel]

I think you've overlooked a lot of reasoning behind the FO2 Dragonfly. With the large propellers and need to fly up and down the coast, it isn't needed to, or expected to, deal with combat situations the same way as the other two. In fact there's a scene where you clearly see it being WAY large and being used as a cargo hauler. The other two are prewar combat models, while the Dragonfly is probably more comparable to a civilian aircraft.

[@trainknut]

My headcanon for how the BOS and NCR can operate vertibirds is that the first generation of Vertibird pilots in the NCR were literally just defected Enclave pilots, who then, through the help of both pre and post-war simulator technology, were probably able to develop some kind of training program for the next generation of pilots, who would be the ones we see in New Vegas... Similarly the BOS probably would have also encountered defected Enclave pilots, though it should be noted that as a military-descended faction, they would have had prior knowledge of Vertibird technology independent of their relationship with the Enclave, and I'm sure the Scribes eventually would have figured out how to fly them once physical aircrafts had been procured.

[@Digitize27]

For how various post-war factions know how to pilot and maintain the Vertibirds, in Fallout 2 there is a mission where you have to retrieve Vertibird blueprints from the Enclave's land staging ground in Navarro (To be handed to either the Brotherhood, or the Shi in San Francisco - though I believe given later events the Brotherhood must have been the canonical choice) This at least accounts for how the Brotherhood had the knowhow to maintain them (And later the NCR, given they likely acquired their own vertibirds during their war with the Brotherhood). It's possible there were other such blueprints in databases around the country. We also know for a fact that the US Air Force was using VR technology as a training tool, given the VR Pods we can find (but unfortunately not use) In Nellis AFB, used by the Boomers. If the Gunners had access to just one of those, that would be enough to train a few pilots, and given the pre-war military fatigues it's likely the organisation has raided more than a few military bases. We know that the Brotherhood definitely had access to them given the training pods in the Hidden Valley Bunker. Its possible that a few members who had been trained in those joined the Lyons expedition out east, able to provide their unique expertise when that chapter gained its own fleet following the campaign against the Enclave, then proceeded to train up a new Lancer corp.

[@skinny878]

Good to see more content from you!

[@spydingo]

Thanks, glad to hear it!

[@commandergaming3808]

really enjoyed this one I didn't know much on the vertibirds so it was cool watch. would love to see you look into some of the power armour sets :)

[@spydingo]

Thanks! I've already got the rotation animation assets for the T45 and the T51 Helmets, so its bound to happen!

[@lazarussolomon3541]

My head cannon was that the Fallout 4/76 were designed to be troop transports and the ones in fallout 2/3 were made with assault in mind

[@addabledragon515]

The interior of the goldfish vertibird was greatly improved in 76 in the Pitt expansion

[@boxfoxscoot1614]

fallout 4 vertibird looks like it will tip over in a light breeze

[@spydingo]

Maybe that's what that rear wheel is for lol

[@StarEB07]

the brotherhood of steel pilots are actually just normal scribes and just said "ad victoriam" and flew the vertibirds like a boss

[@MediumRareOpinions]

If you put on an orange jumpsuit you get assigned to fly, it's all based on the laundry rotation

[@Pathfinder118]

I actually think the sparx and goldfish version uses the 'Diesel-fission' engines popular during the 2070's so she would still have a range, but could use ALOT of different kind of fuel, though if there is a source for it being a pure nuclear powered craft I would gladly admit I was wrong. Considering we hear a 'piston' effect as they start their engines, a purely electrically driven craft would make a winding sound instead. Also fly by wire is 100% possible, dont forget the transistor was invented shortly BEFORE the war ended, its part of the reason the pip-boy exists, they were just beginning to miniturize as the war began, hence why some more advanced technology exists like APA, and Gattling lasers but were mostly invented after the war was over. It could have been something that was tested in say the xb-01 and finalized for the vb-02 with its more advanced design, having a computer do most of the flight calculations and movement would make training a pilot in the apocalypse easier, and negate some of the vision penulties those slits provide, and would explain the dedicated optics on the front for the advanced computer system needed to keep it flying, because otherwise it would be wildly unstable with those tiny wings, and frankly unbalanced design.

[@spydingo]

I can't really speak against that being the case for the Sparx version, but the goldfish version blows up like a mini nuke and I believe there is radiation present following the explosion, highly suggesting nuclear power. So I was actually unaware that the transistor was invented shortly before the war, and I looked to see if there was any proof of this other than a Wikipedia entry and was unable to find it. It would appear that this idea about the transistor existing in the fallout universe came into being sometime in 2014, and has since been edited to say in the decade before 2077, and then specifically 2067. Very strange. As far as I knew the only thing we knew for sure was the transistor was not created as early as in our world. That being said though, even if the transistor was invented in the decade before the great war ended in 2077, the original vertibird was in development as early as 2072 making it very unlikely that it would have been designed to take advantage of this development in hardware, at least in my opinion. the VB-02 variants could have though given the hundreds of years that variant had to cook. Thanks for this, I learned a thing!

[@Pathfinder118]

@@spydingo I am very glad you did! I did want to mention though, that most of the cars in fallout, atleast the early beathesda titles used the Diesel-Fission, they also explode like a nuclear explosion in game, though I think fallout 4 quietly retconned them to being fusion? powered. Im not sure, there is quite a difference in design aesthetic between the two games, so much so I hesitate to put 3 and new vegas in the same universe as 4 and 76, kinda like how GTA has the HD and non HD universes. I did a look and found that the only reference to the Diesel-Fission engine comes from a nuka cola toy truck that Beathesda used to sell, the 'Atomic V8' that used Diesel and was a 'common engine all across america' the old red rocket stops sold Diesel and coolant, and there was a cut terminal talking about a mom trying to convert her car from fission to fusion. Oh I did want to mention I think the twin exausts on the gold fish near the tail are part of the vertibirds APU or auxillery power supply, like for example the Seaking helicopter has three engines, two provide torque for the rotor and the third produces power for the electronics, so they could be providing coolant for a secondary power source, the one that idles when the main engines are off and hanging from the prydwyn.

[@jamal4080]

I have seen bos power armor crews in fallout 4 jump out of the vertibird before the vertibird lands

[@bagelbandlt6526]

You think that instead of a "prototype" it could actually be apart of the Navy/Marine Corps aviation wing since it had folded wings.

[@n0anime342]

I could see the last point of them dismounting from air in power armor as a weight and balance thing. if 1Klbs suddenly dropped from the side door of a hovering vertibird. Unless they have fly by wire capability like you suggested I could see that being a major downfall.

[@nooriginalname370]

The Hind part, probably refers to the capacity of the vertibird of being both a attack and troop carrier vehicle. It looks like a gold fish, but has similar capabilities of a Hind

[@TimUmax]

Top tier content. Keep up the good work, champ.

[@spydingo]

Thanks! I'll certainly try!

[@enzopastrana9043]

In fallout 76 update "the Pitt" the vertibird our characters uses has a bigger interior so that could be the canon version of the interior of the VB-01

[@elizabetharas5748]

6:53 Well the thing is, fallout safety standards are basically nonexistent, so I dont think it would matter too much if it didn't pass the test since I doubt they had it in the Fallout universe considering the huge lack of safety standards.

[@CoinSmeller]

Is it just me, or is the constant redesign of vehicles sorta fucking up the experience on game. Like fallout 3 to 4 with the drastic vehicle design change

[@spydingo]

It's hard to say really. On the one hand congruency is what really leads to immersion as a series goes on, on the other hand, unless you've recently played one of the earlier games, I think it's pretty easy to overlook. For example, I didn't even really consciously remember the goldfish wasn't the same design as Sparx, until it was pointed out to me in the comments suggesting I make this video.

[@CoinSmeller]

@@spydingo that’s a decent point, but playing Fallout 4 right after finishing fallout 3. Kinda messed that overlookable "immersion." But when I got done with Fo4 and tried 76. The consistency was absolutely fucked with completely new props and designs on a lot of stuff

[@jcrossan1351]

The fallout 2 vertibird will always be my favourite I hope in the next fallout game we get a design similar to it

[@martinaw8250]

if the BoS dropped off Knights (power armour units) from the air like ODSTs with Iron man landings like you have said and shown as an example. I would have sided with them more LOL. it makes so much more sense and would be much more helpful when calling for support. Like the Insitute has those beacon nades to teleport a synth and the Minuteman has artillery support.

[@spydingo]

Right? No fall damage is like a super power, and the BOS isn't using it. It's crazy.

[@Djrealfake]

I really like your vertibird design very nice, to add I think you can just jump out of vertibird if you have power armor on I know I see the brotherhood do it all the time, the infantry jumps out secures and then the verti goes and lands to drop off the unpower armored scribes. Also one of the magazine covers in fallout 4 shows jetpacked power armored soldiers flying out of the side of the vertibird and alongside of it in air combat which is mind-blowingly awesome.

[@spydingo]

Thanks! You now, I struggled on whether not they did jump out or not. I ultimately decided to leave that section in as I couldn't remember a concrete time in any of my playthroughs that I saw em' do it. Not saying they didn't, just saying I've played too much fallout 4 lol. Also, I'm real bad about not doing the main questline so its pretty likely I don't really remember it happening as the BoS is rarely in my commonwealth.

[@haka-katyt7439]

​@@spydingo if you are wearing PA and in a BoS vertibird that is transporting you, you can jump out

[@haka-katyt7439]

Also occasionally you can see knights jump from vertibirds when the BoS decides to raid super mutants camps or raider camps

[@An_Owl_named_VIPER]

This was great I’m happy to see someone who knows what a parasite fighter is

[@spydingo]

Thanks! I'm glad!

[@wackyotter1235]

The hind resemblance absolutely is true. The fuselage and canopy shape resembles it very well

[@spydingo]

I agree when it comes to the upper portion of the hind, not so much the bottom portion. It's a lot easier to see when you have a front on comparison of the hind to the goldfish, a comparison I wish I had shown. Unfortunately I couldn't find a Creative Commons asset for that and was too lazy I suppose, to make one myself.

[@owenkegg5608]

The Fo-4 Goldfish is my favorite. Imo the quad glass flats in the front window (what I think they meant by the Hind inspiration) still actually looks like a dragonfly still. The landing gear on FO-4s vertibird is by far the worst.

[@vade2564]

This channel is criminally underrated

[@spydingo]

I don't know about that lol. I only have about 40 minutes of content. I appreciate the sentiment though!

[@vade2564]

@@spydingo its still better quality and more interesting than films put by youtubuers with milions of subs to be honest

[@eternalmiasma5586]

In 76 it looks like they have a different type of interior as we see in the lobby for expeditions

[@spydingo]

Oh yeah! It is much better, hope if they keep the current vertbird model they iterate on that interior.

[@Mr_Waffle.]

Great video, always loved the Vertibird. I hope you do a follow-up to this video someday using Fallout 76's Expeditions and the TV show!

[@baxterthebush6512]

Every version they get less rotor blades

[@mikecoviello165]

And I love the VodaBird you made combining the dragonfly and goldfish

[@spydingo]

Thanks! I think it could really work well if some professional modelers took it up.

[@vinnyknox5995]

Whats interesting is that the most armored vertibird was also the one that transports the president of the NCR in Fallout: New Vegas

[@Delta1296pt2]

I got a answer for the “how they know” line. US military was always geared for young men to learn to control different equipment FAST. SO a surplus of manuals, ease of controls and such probably made this crap easy to fly. Paired with on board AI like you said! Fallout 4 the minutemen end up flying them aswell and I doubt the brotherhood put them through flying school

[@spydingo]

I think manuals could help, but in a lot of ways that's like trying to learn how to fly a helicopter and a plane with a Vertibird for dummies book. The AI could do it I mean according to F76 it can fly autonomously, but that begs the question of, why have a pilot at all then? Also unrelated, but if a toaster can run a self aware AI where is our self aware Vertibird? I suppose it could also be possible for the Vertbird itself to have some sort of training mode, although that would seem rather cost inefficient for the prewar government as one would assume training aircraft and sims and centralized pilot training locations would still be the norm. I hope Bethesda does some explaining of this in the next game whenever it comes out.

[@AlgorithmicChaos]

@@spydingo In fallout 4 tinker tom is able to fly a vertibird (though quite rough, but he manages to dock and undock from the prydwen) by only ever having read the operating manual in the quest rockets red glare, so that's pürobably the canon version on how they learned it: reading the manuals and then just practicing a bit

[@ThomasFarquhar2]

Interplay: vertibirds look like this Bethesda : actually they look like this Obsidian: yeah that looks cool we'll use it Bethesda: actually they look like this and can dock to the Brotherhood's airship

[@spydingo]

I think its more likely Obsidian went, wait you mean we have like 2 years to make this thing? It will do. lol

[@Battle_Engineer]

The pods on the bottom might be for water landings

[@spydingo]

Like pontoons, I dig it.

[@Pixel22-fs3tt]

I just found your channel and I have to say. Keep up the good work. Never really thought about the Vertibirds in the Fallout games but now you got me actually curious about them and how they work. Also I believe that the thing you said about them being able to connect to an airship. I believe that was a BoS modification and Bethesda never just bothered to change the model

[@iamjoeysteel]

10:38 I didn't think those were portholes. I took those to be vents, lite storage, or chaff related ports since inside the crew sits above that area.

[@XWeeAce999X]

10:17 tha 3 cameras on the front dude???

[@ulfgard4734]

I am convinced, probably wrongly, that the supposed bombing capacity of the sparks variant is probably in the original design but subsequently removed in favor of the transport compartment as seen in the game.

[@mechicanalnumbariaro]

Heh, I very much do like the Sparkfish one. Ya think about covering the guns of fallout as well? like the gauss rifle?

[@spydingo]

For sure, I do want to branch out from vehicles every once and a while. I'm thinking every 4th or 5th video I'll go outside my current lane.

[@EternalAnglo]

I'd love to see a Mod that adds the Sparkfish to F4

[@t2force212]

In terms of the fighter aircraft in Fallout I think it makes sense there are so few given the immense weight that a nuclear power source substantial enough to power a capable fighter-craft would take. With the vertibird landing, the power armour no fall damage seems to just be a thing from fallout 4 and 76 and to my knowledge there is no mention of it in the lore so it is likely just a gameplay thing in those games similair to fusion core lifespans. The NCR almost definently got training to fly vertibirds from ex-enclave pilots (think operation paperclip style recruiting). The BOS have access to so much tech and documentation that there is a myriad of ways they could've learned. As for the gunners, it's possible that a BOS member defected for promise of wealth.

[@ComfortsSpecter]

Alot of Amazing Original Artstyle God I Wish Bethesda Actually Bothered to Try and Make This Look It’s Best Such a Beautiful Iconic Fictional Aircraft Culture

[@NicholasOrlick]

I like the VB-01 probably the best out of all of them because the other two don’t look like they could fly in real life.

[@Spook_Boi]

at least the transport version if not all 3 would have 3 crewmen: Pilot, Co-pilot, and crew chief. crew chief is basically in charge of the helicopter. and when you talk to a helo via radio, ur almost always talking to the crewchief. not sure if the games military would have used that base of ops, but thats how the US military does it today. also the compartments on the bottom of the FO4 and 76 version may be pontoons for emergency water landings and/ or personnel recue but idk

[@spydingo]

That's a good point about the crew chief, that does make a lot of sense for the fallout 2 version. I really like that pontoon idea, really ties into the goldfish aesthetic/design philosophy they were apparently shooting for.

[@saigonfrontiers8617]

You should have done a take on the cargo vertibird from f076 which is a large version of the fo4 one

[@karlniewinski8671]

once again, another great video!

[@spydingo]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@VaciliNikoMavich]

I swear i saw some BoS knights jump out from a vertibird once in-game, but it was raining and stormy due to a mod.

[@reaverbad48]

i have seen brotherhood patrol that only contains power armor units drop from a still in flight vertibird.But since most of them contains a scribe or some brotherhood soldier in combat armor ,the vertibird touch down most of the time.

[@williamfranklin6836]

The other gear on the back is to prevent tail strikes, planes like the f3d sky knight also had it

[@matheusmelisguerrapeixe2330]

I love the avb 3, but the problem that I have with the avb 1, 2 (fallout3 and nv) and 3 is that they are small, they don't look that spacious and the avb3 don't have big sliding doors (actually no doors to get in). I would make it longer (just a bit), if I would ad sliding doors, make the sides bigger. But again I love it

[@devinhall3286]

While the Vertibird may have been inspired by the well known V-22 the closest real life aircraft may actually be the Canadair CL-84 Dynavert. While it's far more obscure, it is of a similar size to the Vertibird and features the same rotating wing concept. It first flew in 1965 and developed until 72 but sadly like many innovative Canadian aircraft of that time it was canceled and scrapped. One very distinctive difference the Dynavert had was a third rotor in in the tail that deployed for vertical flight and kind got tucked away after transitioning to horizontal flight.

[@popdi.s.i.c.sccnnt7221]

patrolling the internet almost makes me wish for a better time of day.

[@c98t]

Very Intriguing video, I notice there was no talk about the appearence of the vertibird that transports you in the expedition on Fo76, the interior is deceivably large compared to the exterior

[@maniacmagge2568]

The fallout 76 version of the Vertibird has to by far be my most favorite in terms of interior design as you can see in the Expeditions Update. though for sure i miss and love the outward appearance of the NV vertibird and 100% agree on the cross design of F4 and FNV designs.

[@seamusfinnegan1164]

I would imagine that the glass canopy meets the chicken test as this IS a military grade vehicle, and there are plenty of kinds of glass to use that could be impact and bullet resistant. and Fallout has Ballistic fibers and such in the weirdest things I imagine military grade items are particularly high grade with their glass. Although such glass would be hard to come by post war, and were likely replaced in the BOS run vertibirds in Fallout 4 with regular or low end ballistic glass as retrofitting and redesigning their entire vertibird fleet would be a task on a similar if not greater scale as their airship and they would likely have had to make a choice between one of the two. The issue for needing to find replacement parts would likely have also been a problem for the Vertibirds in Fallout New Vegas, which would help explain any speed issues as Vertibirds in Fallout 2 are supposed to be FAST able to quickly go from Navarro or elsewhere across the west coast rapidly back to the Oil Rig and back. Which combined with other factors make me believe the Enclave Vertibirds in Fallout 2 are particularly fast, especially with potentially immensely advanced jet engines. Also the drop tank looking thing is probably coolant storage for the nuclear reactor. Not a issue if its shot, but useful to have for long range travel. As for the landing instead of dropping, id point towards the terminal entry in the airship about jumping from tall buildings, and the hinting towards people getting hurt. Fall damage resistance might be infinite gameplay wise, but probably not lore wise, especially with that one Proctor whose whole storry is about getting her legs fucked WHILE in power armor from a fall. Furthermore such jumps are probably hell on the power armors maintenance needs, and with the already large list of maint work the BOS has to constantly do, adding on their power armor to be even worse to maintain might be too much to handle, hence the need to land. Plus a Vertibird would be most at risk while in the air in my experience with Fallout 4 as their easy targets in the air, so landing gives them a brief break from combat, and lets the charging knights and paladins soak up that attention. Furthermore due to the strict discipline of the BOS its likely ingrained in pilots to land due to training as there not always gonna have passengers with power armor.

[@TheUnseenSoldier]

On the note of power armor wearers being immune to fall damage, that was purely a Fallout 4/76 thing. And they only did that because they didn’t expect players to yeet themselves off the tops of skyscrapers and out of flying vertibirds. Power armor is supposed to help dampen falls but physics dictate that a fall at terminal velocity is still going to mess you up. Bethesda was just lazy about it and didn’t bother to draw that line between what distance fall is going to harm you and what isn’t. They simply just disabled fall damage.

[@Rubix003]

The 'Goldfish' is a scout variant, similar to a 'Little Bird'.

[@JeansWithPockets541]

Transistors actually exist in the Fallout universe, invented in the 2060s. They just didn't get super widespread though, but they probably made the PIP-BOY possible. I don't think they have ICs at any point though.

[@enzopastrana9043]

On the max range that the XVB-01 can fly, I believe it's less than 247 miles (almost 400KM) which would put it at around the same performance as the H-34 choctaw or the CH-37 Mojave

[@BoisegangGaming]

It's possible to me that the Protobird and Sparks models were either originally nuclear-powered, and the oil rig enclave modified theirs to run off fuel, or vice versa, originally running off fuel but the resource strapped enclave had to switch to nuclear power following their cross-continental journey. We know that the goldfish can run off different power sources, such as the responders' one being refit to use Ultracite Battery Cells, so it's possible the VBs were all designed in a way that would allow their power plants to be replaced and refit. Also, the Powered Infantry jumping out of a VB mid-flight to secure the LZ is just a terrifying concept. "It's raining men" indeed.

[@spydingo]

Modular Power Plant or MPP, sounds pretty legit. For some reason now I'm thinking of the Cyber Men from "Doctor Who" jumping out of the VBs lol.

[@yunglevistain]

18:12 to be fair, they've had around 200 years to figure it out, we haven't even had that long with our aircraft technologies, ik that seems like a cop out answer, but if you leave something with someone long enough they'll figure it out, just my opinion tho

[@thisnotmynamebro7656]

I feel SPARX differences to the protobird are made by the brotherhood after getting the blueprints in fallout 2

[@christianwilson5956]

I think they are all the same vehicle and each generation is an aesthetic change because fallout 3 and fallout 4 are both partial reboots of the series. Its the same situation as the 10mm pistol.

[@highcat2046]

My theory is that the pods on the front of the VB-02 F3 and NV versions, are 1 part radar and 1 part electronic warfare. It makes the most sense seeing as it's a military gunship. I'd also give them some credit in terms of situational awareness. VB-02 Gunship pilots have more than once demonstrated their ability to identify key landing zones, attack with extreme accuracy, and take off at the first sight of a possible threat. It's either the Enclave simply having extreme technical advances, or Bethesda just has lazy writing, but I'd rather not drag Fallout through the mud anymore than it's already been, so I'll stick with the former. Daisy Whitman only had one crash, and it wasn't even a combat related crash, it was a rotor malfunction.

[@sabrinah2378]

tbh I much prefer the 'goldfish' design as it seems more like a nuclear age osprey while the other almost seem like alien spaceships which isn't the fallout vibe imo

[@Zestence]

You mentioned them being nuclear powered, by I'm pretty sure all references in the games imply they are using regular pre-war avgas to fly. Daisy Whitman in New Vegas directly says; "I never was happier than when I was in the cockpit. I was able to go just about anywhere and everywhere, limited only by the fuel I could carry.". And the remnants bunker in NV being a vertibird refueling station.

[@tep5132]

As prior service member, they wouldn’t let you do any cool stuff like jump out the plane like that, be worried about you crushing someone or something or landing in a weird spot or like just falling through the floor into the sewer or something. With the weight and that rotor pushing you down your a kiloton Kinect bunker buster. And I hate to be the person who has to do maintenance on suits constantly jumping out of planes or the guy that has to clean you out one of something does go wrong or break

[@spydingo]

In a modern age with civilian concerns not jumping out of a plane like a kinetic missile makes a lot of sense. In a post apocalyptic world I don't think that's as much of a concern for the Enclave and BoS. Agreed though, the maintenance could be rough, although in the fallout universe robots could possibly do the heavy lifting there.

[@rezredstripe2774]

Good vid, though my thoughts are that the protobird is the Mk1, while the fallout 4 is more a civilian offshoot. The fallout 3 and Nv is the MK2. And yes power armour should be able to just jump out. Especially if they have a jump pack.

[@spydingo]

Thanks! So you're thinking the fallout 4 version was a civilian aircraft that either the prewar government or brotherhood of steel added the frontal armaments to? Good, I'm glad I'm not the only one!

[@rezredstripe2774]

@@spydingo yes exactly. It would also explain the lack of carrying capacity. Think of it like a executive transport. On a side note I think the Mk1 was modelled off several old designs, the tilt wing cargo plane being one but also the sky crane. The glass cockpit would make more sense if it was.

[@AlgorithmicChaos]

If you do the Mass Fusion Quest in Fallout 4 in favor of the Brotherhood you DO jump out of a vertibird onto the roof of the mass fusion building, so the whole jumping out in power armor DOES HAPPEN IN GAME

[@jakehildebrand1824]

One thing I've noticed is that the virtibirds in the pre Bethesda games have slightly different engines and different and significantly longer propellers.

[@spydingo]

Oh yeah, those propellers are huge. And if I'm remembering correctly there is something like 7 of em'. Add to that I'm pretty sure way back in high school engineering 3 blades are chosen for a reason, and less (in comparison to 7) is more.

[@vkovalev89]

@@spydingo Actually, the F2 Vertibird's 7-blade propellers make me think of the Russian Mi-26 with its 8-blade one. So I tend to think the F2 version is the heavy transport model (with BIG emphasis on heavy) and the bethesda ones are all developments of the strike/troop transport one (who could ever think the USAF would look at the Mi-24 modus operandi...)

[@jakethreesixty]

I always found it weird that there were only vertibirds, considering helicopters existed during WW2

[@jackthunderbolt4307]

My hang up about the goldfish is that it has one turret that moves side to side. I think id rather have two turrets I can use at the same time

[@Otterdisappointment]

A mistake you made: I think the “sensors” on the VSB are the missile pods and the “optics” are the Gatling laser because the gunship alternates between three barrels like an infantry gatling laser and there’s no way the minigun on the nose fires anything other than bullets.

[@pmcminecraft1]

So there's multiple things I want to say, one transistors do exist in the fallout universe it's just they're much more rare than our universe, they're mostly only used for military and extremely wealthy applications Also gunners are not smart enough to use vertibirds effectively, you can have an event and fallout 4 where gunners use a verta bird but they don't really know how to operate it well enough and eventually if you wait long enough they will lose control and crash

[@Enigmatic_211]

will you also talk about the other vehicles??

[@spydingo]

Slowly but surely, working on the train engine from fallout 4 now!

[@corymacleod431]

power armor troops do sometimes hot drop out of the vertibird when there fighting raiders and such

[@spydingo]

That's certainly possible, when writing the script I couldn't think of a time I had seen it happen in the 1076 hours I've played, but that doesn't really mean it hasn't happened. It just means I've played toooooo much fallout. So I guess I should have said, power armor troops doing combat drops should be the norm, not the exception.

[@ikeduno7973]

Hey wow this vid was really great. Tons of cool imagery and AV effects. I'd better subscribe. Just to be safe.

[@spydingo]

Thanks! Absolutely, better safe than sorry!

[@NoNameChek]

very interesting video, it was interesting to learn more about vertibirds I liked your design of combining vertibirds from Fallout 3 and Fallout 4, it looks unusual, I would like someone to make a full model. Honestly, I like the vertibird model from Fallout 4 more, its massiveness scares and delights but the model from Fallout 3 has a really uncomfortable view from the cockpit, small gaps do not give a complete picture of the environment, I'm not sure how the pilots managed to pilot them successfully :/

[@petrsukenik9266]

"how did the broderhood achieved that" Bro, i was worried you are about to drop skillshare comercial 💀

[@adeptuscustode115]

I like the spark fish design and you could add air to ground rocket pods to the underwing design and maybe those pods on the spark and the transport could be eyebots to use in a scouting role and maybe add a rear storage compartment to the spark fish for supplies

[@spydingo]

Thanks! That's a good point, the vertibird isn't going for stealth so there really isn't any reason to not have pylons on the wings for mounting external weapons systems. That eyebot idea is dope, I hope bethesda reads it and makes it so. Idk about the storage compartment though, if that happens bethesda will put it behind a paywall lol.

[@adeptuscustode115]

And if the whole thing is nuclear powered why not strap like a gatling laser to it and yeah a storage system might be a little much but if they have the same gliding doors of the goldfish why not add a winch system to rappel and to pick up supplies and power armor troops

[@adeptuscustode115]

@@spydingo and with the eye bot idea why not have internal mr gutsy storage bays to provide support and extra man power or a maybe a sentry bot storage and repair bay especially on like brotherhood and enclave models with their propensity for using automated combat units and for weapons In like sponson mounts or turrets why not add grenade launchers like the 25mm apw we find in New vegas

[@legio-IV-Cataphract]

I can't wait for someone to make a mod that replace the XVB-01 for the XVB-03

[@spydingo]

Same!

[@havoksaar7905]

This is amazing! Great job! I enjoyed every breakdown of each. Also I agree that the one we get in 4 and 76 seems like a downgrade. Do to this downgrade it may be easier to get a hold of supplies and parts due to it potentially being easy and cheaper to build. Which might be why we see the gunners and BOS use them so much. But that is just one fallout enthusiast's opinion.

[@spydingo]

Thanks! I'm just one fallout enthusiast just like you, and I approve this message lol.

[@ryuko6793]

I would think the extra wheel at the back of the goldfish would be to support the extra weight added by thoses jet engines

[@spydingo]

That could be. I'd still prefer the extra wheel to at least be spaced differently in relation to the others, as is they are just so close together.

[@unit2224]

I want to adress a small bit of misinformation. fly by wire means that there is no direct mechanical or hydraulic link between inputs to control surfaces. It does not mean that it is inherently unstable.

[@spydingo]

You are technically correct. In the context of a military bird though, I don't really see this as "misinformation".

[@ChristopherKayser88]

Great video, got me to subscribe.

[@oditeomnes]

Damn, wish I was some bad ass modder who could make a fallout 4 power armour compatible vertibird of each variant. Then mod in "Sparx" to the Enclave of the American Rising 2 mod, because it make sense for them to use those. Then probably throw in a transport XVB-02 to Minutemen as a unique novelty aircraft. Railroad don't get an aircraft, because you can't park one in dirty sewers. BoS would be exclusive owners of the VB-01, since that arresting hook fits with the whole aircraft carrier theme.

[@Westsideaviation23]

Let's build em in msfs x

[@spydingo]

That would be awesome! Would take someone far more talented than I though.

[@Westsideaviation23]

@@spydingo unfortunately me as well but I've seen some cool shit before

[@darlajetton9440]

Should it be sparxfish? Or maybe the goldsparx

[@spydingo]

I tried Sparxfish actually, thought the x in the middle looked off, like I was shipping Spar and fish. Goldsparx is solid though, could have done up the t-shirt real nice and had the lines be pass through to some gold texturing. That would have looked real fine.

[@lane-_-mass5006]

I always thought fallout 4 and 76 vertibird where like a modified civillian varient for military purposes do to its lack of armor