Air Ranger: Rescue Helicopter - Strategy Guide (Page 02)

Below are the cheat codes, hints and help for Air Ranger: Rescue Helicopter - Strategy Guide (Page 02).

If I would be that boss, there wouldn't even be the need for such a decision: 
That last thing would long have gone to the scrap yard or the museum. The 
second one would possibly be still around, but it would stand in the other 
hangar - together with the old oil drums and the lawn mower. It would leave 
that hangar only for the purpose, to frighten away beginners, who think 
they can learn to fly a helicopter in a couple of hours, because they saw 
some guy doing that in a movie.
Or to remind my pilots from time to time, what a nice guy I am, letting 
them use that new, expensive machine with full torque compensation...
 
So, the very first thing about the controls is:

Switch to EASY and forget about it altogether.

(You still can experiment with the other levels after you cleared the game. 
I won't!)
 
2.3.2.   The RADIO CONTROL

Switching to 'RADIO CONTROL' puts the controls of the collective lever onto 
the RIGHT ANALOG STICK. The stick then has TWO functions: Controlling the 
right/left movements and the up/down movements. I never have played with 
a radio-controlled helicopter, but my guess is, that this configuration 
imitates the controller of such a heli. (Correct me ...)
Switching to this configuration also changes considerably the speed of 
response of the collective lever: It reacts much faster than in the 'NORMAL 
CONTROL' mode! Since most RC models move much quicker -if you consider the 
proportions between size and speed- than their big brothers from real life, 
that effect might truthfully 'translate' a real remote control's feeling 
onto the PS 2 controller.  
For people who are used to flying RC helicopters this might be a welcome 
option, since they don't have to get used to a new configuration.
For the rest of us I recommend to stay away from it.
It puts TWO functions on ONE stick, and that is bound to confuse you sooner 
or later! In a helicopter the three dimensions are nicely distributed to 
three different instruments, a fact you can use to your advantage in many 
difficult situations! It is a very important advantage, and I will explain 
later WHY that is so. 
The RADIO CONTROL also lets your helicopter move astonishingly fast up- 
and downwards, while the other movements - for example turning around its 
own axle - stay the same. The result is a quite unrealistic way of 'behaving' 
for a real helicopter, even for a real lightweight type.
So the simulator effect is gone,- you immediately realize, that a helicopter 
doesn't move like that!
The practical effect of going up and down faster is of no real advantage 
within a mission. On the contrary: The up/down control becomes quite touchy 
suddenly, while the right/left control stays the same. Very confusing! 

I believe your best choice is: Use NORMAL CONTROL on EASY.

2.3.3.   THE SPEED OF RESPONDING

Many people seem to have problems with the handling of the helicopters in 
Air Ranger. The machines respond quite late to the controller, and sometimes 
you almost get the impression, you have to do the opposite to get the desired 
effect: Pushing the stick to the right to make it go left! (It may FEEL 
like that - but the helicopter DOES go to the left if you push to the left 
- it just doesn't do it immediately...)
On the long, straight flights this problem is of no importance - only when 
you are at the actual place of rescue. So, while flying is kind of easy 
- the rescue operation is always difficult, sometimes very difficult. The 
problems are: Wind, moving targets, limited space and -the handling of the 
helicopter. I would believe, that most of the other problems would become 
much smaller, if the helicopters would do what you want it to do a bit quicker! 
So why didn't the game designers make the controller react faster to your 
commands? I don't think the reason is poor programming or lacking knowledge. 
I also don't believe, they wanted to make the game very difficult on purpose. 
(They actually did add that EASY option, but what it does, will not change 
the speed of reaction, it only takes the burden of the torque effect away 
from you!) 
I believe, that they wanted to create a true simulator game without too 
many compromises.
Accelerating heavy things and to slow them down again needs time. If you 
take a car at high speed through a sharp turn, you actually have to start 
to turn the handle BEFORE the turn. And a car still has some grip in a curve, 
even if it starts to slide. Now, imagine taking a plane through a turn. 
There is nothing, where it has a grip on - besides the air resistance at 
wings and body. So, a 'curve' will be a mixture of forward and sideward 
gliding, which results in a rather indefinite and late movement to the side. 
A car you can brake to almost standstill and then move at once into a 
completely different direction. Try to do that with a plane...
A helicopter you also can brake to a standstill, but to move it again takes 
quite some time. When flying forward with some speed, the same conditions 
apply to a helicopter as to a plane: Curves will become quite big - quick 
turns are almost impossible. A plane cannot perform sharp turns - not even 
a very small one. A helicopter can do sharp turns, but has to be stopped 
and turned on the spot for that.
(RC helicopters seem to be able to change directions quicker. But don't 
forget that there is a considerable mismatch between their weight and their 
power! You cannot compare their handling with that of a real, big one!)

You can make an easier helicopter game, but I don't think you can make an 
easier helicopter simulator.

2.3.4.   FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEMS AND
          POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

The biggest problem is the 'swinging and swaying'-effect: You cannot 
stabilize the helicopter and keep moving from one to the other side without 
getting it under control. This phenomenon shows up in almost all missions.
It is usually caused by trying to compensate for a movement in an unwanted 
direction, or by trying to react to a movement, which was too drastic.
It is a thing, which you should be able to control after some time!
But it seems, that you just can't!
The reason for this usually is, that you try to balance your helicopter 
by wildly moving in all possible directions. The problem with that is, that 
you will become confused about the dimensions and you do not really know, 
in which dimension the move was, for which you try to make up! In other 
words: If your heli goes DOWN and LEFT and BACK you have to put it UP a 
bit, to the RIGHT a bit and FORWARD a bit. IF you realize all these facts 
within the fraction of a second AND can react with the proper counter measures 
(which includes the knowledge about the AMOUNT of that 'bit', which is of 
course different for each movement...), you will be able to get your helicopter 
balanced again! Personally, I don't have the reflexes for that!
After a couple of crashes and some thinking and reading, I came to the 
conviction, that there has to be a different way, than practicing this kind 
of multi dimensional puzzle for hundreds of hours. I heard and understood, 
that flying helicopters is difficult - but it can't be THAT difficult!

The biggest problem is confusing the dimensions!
Having made that clear, the next step is obvious:

-IF YOU HAVE TO MANEUVER IN LIMITED SPACE - SEPARATE YOUR MOTIONS!

FIRST STOP ONE OF YOUR MOVEMENTS! THEN STOP STEP-BY-STEP ALL OTHERS.
For example: Stop the forward movement, so you are moving down/up and 
left/right ONLY. Next stop the left/right movement, so you are now sinking 
or climbing ON THE SAME PLACE. Now all what is left to do is to make the 
helicopter hovering. The order can be different, depending of the character 
of you mission.
Important is, that your counter motions (-for example: the counter motion 
for a FORWARD movement is to push the collective lever BACK ..., etc.) are 
short and deft movements.  By doing so, you can control the effect of your 
action better, since you see the full effect of a small movement much earlier, 
than the effect of a big motion. You can add more of the quick counter 
movements, if the helicopter is still moving in the unwanted direction, 
or you can do a little opposite motion, if you overdid it.
Instead of making one extensive motion, which can be much too drastic, and 
makes another 'counter-counter' action necessary, you do a series of small 
corrections, which you stop when you reach the desired effect!
The main point is being able to control the extent of your actions.

-STOP YOUR FLIGHT before you reach the rescue scenery!
 
If you are still new in the game, do that early enough! If you do it too 
late, you might find yourself already in a space, where you can't do all 
of the separated moves for long enough without hitting things!
Stop early, hover, and decide the best way to approach the area. Do this 
step by step. For example: Fly forward until you are over the target. Stop. 
Hover. Go down slowly. Make necessary side adjustments by using the cyclic 
lever OR the pedals (left analog stick OR right analog stick), but DON'T 
USE THEM TOGETHER!
There is also the possibility to use ONLY the pedals for side movements:  
you turn into the desired direction by circling around your axis, stop 
circling and go straight forward, by using the cyclic lever. (There are 
many missions, where this technique becomes a necessity!)

-MAKE CLEAR WHICH CAUSES THE SWINGING - the wind or you!

Sometimes you see the trees at your landing point or target starting to 
move wildly and automatically assume, that it is caused by a sudden gust 
of wind. Of course there are sudden gusts in the game, but mostly the only 
reason for the trees to move is your own rotor! Before you start trying 
to compensate for something, that doesn't exist, make sure, how much wind 
there actually is. Look at the upper right corner for a check, or get your 
helicopter into a perfectly still hover and watch if it starts to drift 
to one side. Most of the time it doesn't! 
There could be another reason for problems at the landings: Sometimes the 
air your rotor is moving comes back at you, being reflected from the ground. 
This could give you an upward, and sometimes even a sideward thrust! 
Whichever it is - don't overreact. Counter-act with the usual small, but 
frequent movements.   

-WATCH THE WIND!

In some missions the wind is very strong and quite disturbing! Try to avoid 
wind from the side in narrow spaces. It is much more difficult to be 
compensated for than wind from behind or ahead!
 
-TAKE YOUR TIME AND DON'T HURRY at the rescue place!

Especially if you are a beginner - you need to move slowly and precisely! 
You will loose much more time in the end, if the 'swinging' effect starts 
and you can't stop it immediately. You also will loose points for hitting 
things or landing roughly. Do it slowly and stop altogether, when in doubt 
or in trouble.

-USE THE CAMERAS TO CONTROL THE ANGLE OF YOUR APPROACH!

It is not always easy to tell, in which direction and to what extent your 
helicopter is actually moving. Before you become the victim of a wrong 
impression and start moving in a completely wrong direction, make sure what 
the actual conditions are. For that you have to change the camera view a 
couple of times. More details about that in the next topic.

-WATCH THE SHADOW of your helicopter!

It indicates your present position very clearly! Use it to your advantage, 
especially at the landings.
 
2.4.   THE CAMERAS

Air Ranger gives you almost complete control over the cameras, a feature, 
which is very rare, if not unique in a game for PS2.
There has to be a reason for this, because there have to be sacrifices for 
that luxury: Sometimes you could say, that the graphics are not really PS2 
standard and there could have been more depth to the game. I imagine that 
it takes a lot of memory space to include such a complex option as the camera 
views of Air Ranger. So the reason cannot only be to let you look at your 
pretty helicopter from all angles: There obviously is a way, how to use 
this option to your advantage in the game!
Why is the view so important in this game?
A helicopter can move into a new direction quite suddenly. It can change 
from forward flight to sinking flight almost without any delay. This means, 
that estimating the extent of your descent is very difficult - it does not 
occur gradually - as with a plane - but immediately! You cannot only rely 
on your altitude meter, because it doesn't give the actual distance to the 
ground. The only way to guess the distance to the ground is using your eyes.
And that is the reason, why helicopters have really big windows, giving 
you view even under your feet!
Unlike a plane a helicopter has to land on places, which are not designed 
and prepared for a landing. This means that you have to rely on your view 
only - there is no way of relying on a standard landing routine.
A real helicopter pilot does this by moving the head and trying to get the 
best view through the various big windows.
To simulate this ability in a game is almost impossible. To understand this, 
look at different points in your room by turning your head. You can do that 
very quickly, especially if you also use your eyes! You can change directions 
almost without any delay.
To simulate that kind of quick and sudden movements as an additional feature 
of an already complex game is probably not possible yet. (There actually 
is a camera for the inside view. But if you try it, you will not find it 
being very practical, I am afraid.) 
Instead, Air Ranger gives you control over four 'cameras' to determine the 
exact present location of your helicopter.
You will not see any cameras in the game, of course - using this word is 
just a way to describe the possible angles of view.


-The 'default' camera (the camera view, which appears automatically, if 
you start a mission) is positioned quite closely behind your helicopter. 
The button, you have to push to return to that view (if you changed to 
another one after the start) is the CIRCLE button.

-If you still want to view your helicopter from an outside view, but prefer 
a more distant camera position, you have to push the CROSS button.

-To get the view from the inside of the cockpit, press the TRIANGLE button.
 
-The SQUARE button gives you a view?of the present area of interest: The 
landing zone, the rescue zone or the destination zone. Which view you get 
depends on the extent of your proceeding within the mission. (If you are 
close to the rescue point, you'll get the view from the rescue spot. If 
you finished the rescue action, you'll get the view of the final 
destination.) This option might be useful as long as you don't have any 
clue about your next destination - after your second trial of the mission 
you probably won't need it anymore. 
  

2.4.1.   Changing the Angles


The digital direction keys allow you to move the respective cameras around 
your helicopter in a horizontal direction (LEFT/RIGHT DIGITAL KEYS) and 
in a vertical direction (UP/DOWN DIGITAL KEYS).
You cannot move the cameras gradually back or forth with the digital keys, 
- if you want a more distant or close view, you have to change to a different 
camera.

-The up/down control allows movements up to 180 degrees.

-The left/right control lets you rotate the camera around your helicopter 
without limitation! This is a huge advantage, and you should get used to 
make use of it as soon and as much as possible.



2.4.2.   Using the Cameras

Judging distances, judging your height and judging the speed of your approach 
to a target are important factors in this game. Since the simulation of 
the pilot's cockpit view seems not to be possible (because of the necessary 
high speed movements), the game gives you the possibility, to watch your 
helicopter from the outside.
This option seems to be no real innovation - most of the other helicopter 
games also let you see your helicopter from that view. And if you take the 
customary look to 'the other simulator': The best (and maybe only advisable) 
view in GT is the INSIDE view, and not the outside view, like in most other 
racing games! So - why could this be done here and can't be done in Air 
Ranger?? 
Sitting in a racing car, you mostly look forward - if you need to know, 
what is going behind you, you look in your mirror - which is in front of 
you. No need for frequent and quick movements of your head. Which means: 
No programming problems - no compromises needed.
As a helicopter pilot, you have to do those fast movements many times, and 
obviously that is too difficult to be realized in a complicated program!
It is probably the only point, where Air Ranger had to make a compromise.
But I think, that the designers found a way, to make up for that:

If you really make use of those cameras and their mobility, you can get 
all necessary information about the present movements and location of your 
helicopter.
If the changes of cameras and angles become a second nature to you, the 
missions will be a lot easier to master!

-Try to memorize the buttons for the cameras and angle changes as soon as 
possible. You can do this in the FREE FLIGHT mode, during a coin hunt or 
during a mission, on the approaching flight from the start to the rescue 
location or during your return.

-Find out, which camera and which angle is most helpful in a particular 
mission. Sometimes a close view makes things easier, sometimes it is better 
to view the scenery from a more distant point of view.

-Try to establish a 'routine' for each mission. Find out, which parts are 
done most easily with which camera view. Decide the best time, when to 
switch to another camera. 

-Practise the camera changes until you can do them automatically. That way 
you won't loose precious time and can concentrate on difficult flying 
maneuvers.

                                 IMPORTANT:

-I recommend choosing the 'far distant' camera in a position slightly above 
(press CROSS and the UP key at the start of the mission) as your standard 
view. Your crash statistic will soon look much better!
  When working with Bob use the closer view (press CIRCLE after he is out). 
That way you can see better how far he is away from things. Return to the 
more distant view after he is done.

2.5.   THE STAR COINS

There are 5 coins hidden in each mission's area.
You have to collect all 40 in order to open a new title in your main menu: 
CUSTOMIZE.
With that new option you can turn your helicopters into faster and stronger 
ones. (They will also receive a new coat of blue/white paint.)
In the next paragraph I give some basic explanations about the coins, but 
the exact locations will not be revealed.
If you want to find them all alone, or prefer to wait with that decision 
until you can see the ENDING movie, you still can read this paragraph.
It will only give some very general advices. The paragraph AFTER that one 
('Locations') is the one you should not read in this case.
I found about half of the coins before I got to see the ENDING movie.
(In case you didn't catch it: I recommend videotaping it - you might have 
to watch that ending many times...)
Still, even after having the video - it took me quite some time with several 
of them! I predict, that you still will have to look pretty hard for them, 
even if you did read that 'Locations' paragraph. I tried to do my best to 
explain as precisely as I could, where all of those darned things are hiding 
quite successfully. But some times you just can't explain it perfectly clear 
without having a map.
If you do it all alone, I can promise, that you get some nice opportunities 
for practising your technical skills.
I also can promise, that, when you are doing a 'looking for coins' mission, 
'practising' time will get unpleasantly long a few times...

2.5.1.  Basics

There are several things about the coins, which you should realize, before 
you start to hunt for them:

- You can (and should) look for them without caring about the actual mission.
  You might find accidentally one or another coin near the place of action 
or on your approach/return flight. I strongly recommend not taking them 
in such a situation! Just remember the location and get it later. Some 
of many reasons for that: If you don't write it down immediately, you will 
forget it! The coins have no numbers in the displays of the menu, and it 
is very easy to mix up the places and the missions, and which one of them 
you've actually got. It is also possible to mix up the savings  (I did), 
meaning: Saving on different files and then forgetting which coin was on 
which file. But the most important reason is your time limit: In order 
to get gold you have to be quick. And if you do have some spare time, you 
should use it for an unhurried landing or an extra careful drop instead!

-You can use the full time of a mission. The mission will fail, of course, 
but that has no further effect on anything - you'll keep the coin(s) you 
found!
The same is true if you end a mission prematurely - accidentally or on 
purpose - you'll keep your coin(s). Minus points also are of no importance 
- you can hit things, land rudely and mistreat your winch man, just try 
not to crash BEFORE you get the coin you are after, because then you have 
to do it all over again. No big thing, but not really necessary.

- I recommend searching systematically, as well in a general meaning as 
  in a practical. If you look for coins, ONLY look for coins - and for ALL 
of them! Trust me on this one, I speak from experience! I don't say, you 
should really get ALL of them in one single try. But you should get all 
5 of a mission in one trial! Which can consist of several tries, but those 
should be subsequent - do not rest, before you have them all safely on 
your account! And don't hesitate to confirm this fact by looking at your 
USER DATES in the main menu frequently. And ALWAYS SAVE immediately, after 
having finished a successful coin mission, even if you got only one! Saving 
costs no money or points. If you don't do all these things, you will most 
likely forget or confuse, which coin you found when and in which of both 
missions, if you haven't recorded it painstakingly. So - get all five and 
you can forget about them!
 As for the searching procedure itself: Organize your search. Start at 
one point and move systematically ahead. You want to cover every square 
inch, without going countless times over already checked areas. If you 
start to fly aimlessly around, you will need hours, or even days. Some 
of the coins you will never find that way. Establish an effective and time 
saving search pattern. Don't expect to find all of them in one try; use 
the time available, to cover one area thoroughly, and then use the next 
mission to cover the adjacent area in the same way. You will find'em sooner 
or later that way!

-Save whenever you can. And always on the same file!

-The coins are never hidden in places, where it actually would take a month 
to find them: If there is a huge forest with 2000 exactly identical looking 
trees, you can be sure that there is no coin there! Fortunately the 
designers of the game were no sadists - the coins are always in some 
distinctive places. I will try to make some examples, without giving 
actual locations away:      

In a forest, if there are 2000 trees of the same species, look for another 
species!
If there are 2000 trees of the same size and only one real tall one, go 
there!
If there is one lonely building in the middle of nowhere, go there!              
If you detect strange or too regular configurations of trees or buildings, 
go there!

You get the point.
One more hint:  Many coins are near the places of action or somehow related 
to them. The locations can be related to the previous mission's area of 
interest, or the next one's.
They are always hidden in a certain place with a reason. When you have found 
a couple of coins you will understand this way of 'reasoning' of the game 
makers, and can start to use that for your further search. 
 
Some of the locations make the use of your winch man necessary! Since you 
only can 'launch' him, if you are prompted by the game to 'PRESS R1', YOU 
have to prompt the game giving you control over the winch by going to the 
place of action. This means, that you will loose quite some time, which 
has to be taken into consideration for your plans, which coin(s) to get 
within the time limit! You also want to undergo that effort not more than 
once, if there are two coins, which require the winch. There is also the 
fact, that - after you pressed the R1 button - there is no way to haul Bobby 
back, unless you let him actually rescue someone - and you don't want to 
do that -, which means you have this guy hanging out of your heli until 
the end of the mission, cursing and yelling at you, as you continue to drag 
him along, hitting walls, trees, ships and getting drowned several times. 
A purely cosmetical problem, but it sometimes does make you feel guilty 
a little bit...    
 I recommend collecting the coins (ALL of them) as soon as possible!
If you want to take an early advantage from your new helicopters for the 
rest of the missions, you'll want to get them as fast as possible! The fastest 
way would be: Get gold in all of the 4 stages' first missions. That way 
you open all sub missions and can start to go for the coins. You don't have 
to go after the sub missions right now. Leave them for later, AFTER you 
got the faster helis. Then use those for the remaining missions! (If you 
know exactly, where each coin is and if you know how to get gold on the 
first or second try, you can beat the game that way in one afternoon!! Don't 
let anybody disturb you, though.)

                              IMPORTANT:

Last (and very important) point:
After you got a coin (...after that very pleasing sound and the confirmation 
'GET STAR COIN') it will be gone from the scenery! Completely, totally and 
utterly, leaving no sign of its previous existence! This seems to be an 
obvious fact, but: If you didn't write down everything, I predict that you 
will sooner or later look for a coin, which you already took! Because that's 
what I did. It is real easy to get them mixed up! 
If you get all of a stage in a row, you won't have problems with that. 

2.5.2.    LOCATIONS 

                                 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 If you want to look for the coins all by yourself, DO NOT READ THIS PART!
                                 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!          


You might want to change the order in my lists, if you want to get the entire 
five in one single attempt. The order in which they appear on my list does 
not imply any qualification. It does not matter which one you get first, 
if you are not after a quick run. 
If you are, decide yourself about the order, according to your preferences.

A (W) next to a * stands for 'winch' and indicates a mission, where you 
need the help of Bob!

FIRST STAGE (San Fel(r?)nando)

First Mission:

*    After you lift off, keep slightly to the left and follow the ally with 
the trees at the right side. Slow down and wait for a red sports car, showing 
up randomly from ahead or behind. Pick up the coin it is carrying, but be 
careful not to run onto too many buildings, that car makes rather surprising 
turns! If you missed it (if it doesn't show up after about 20 seconds), 
go and search for it - it keeps cruising the city -, or: Retry.

*    There is a bluish twin tower building right next to your landing point. 
A passageway, quite high above ground level, connects the towers. The coin 
is hovering under that passageway.
               
*    If you turn left after your take off and head for the water, you'll 
see an island with a hill, which has a group of 4 trees on its top. There 
is a lighthouse on this island and the coin is hovering above its top.

*     The big red bridge connects the place of your first event with the 
side, where the hospital is located. The coin is under the bridge, near 
the hospital side, between the buttresses of the red pillar. You can see 
the coin only when you are under the bridge and quite close to the water, 
so don't give up before!

*     Hover at street level besides the hospital. You can see the coin, 
floating in the underpass.

Second Mission:        

*     Turn to the left after your start. You will see a hill and a village 
behind it, surrounded by trees. Continue going straight, leaving the 
lighthouse island to your right. In the distance, there is another hill 
formation in front of you with a single tree on top and another one at the 
left flank. To the right is a formation of buildings. Ignore them and go 
straight over the hill. You will see a street crossing and some buildings. 
Behind the crossing there is a group of houses of the same type. Amidst 
them is a single, tall fir tree. The coin is floating right above it.

*    After lift off fly over to the lighthouse island. Fly towards the hill 
in front of you, aiming at the single tree in the far distance. You will 
soon notice some kind of big crater below you. There is a house and a group 
of trees. The coin is between the trees. It is sometimes hard to spot it 
from above, so go down all the way - it really IS there!

*    Try to identify the tallest building in the city. There are two tall 
ones of almost the same size, quite close to each other. One of them has 
a grayish color (the other one is brown), and four antennas at its top corners. 
The coin hovers above the top of that building.

*    This is a nice one! Fly to the bridge and hover next to the red pillar, 
which is closer to the city. Look at the upper third of its buttress; the 
coin is floating right in the middle of it. To get it is a little tricky, 
but don't forget, that hitting things is no problem. Just try not to wreck 
your helicopter.

*   After take off fly over the bridge, then keep to the left and follow 
the shoreline. Fly over the three ships and you will see a street to the 
right, leading towards a group of trees. The street ends near the shore 
and there are some buildings, cars and a heliport amidst the trees. The 
coin is floating above the big H.

SECOND STAGE (White Cliff)

First Mission:          

*   There is a second ship, next to the sinking one. It has a 
helicopter-landing place. The coin is right there.

* (W)  Fly to the front part of the ship, the part which is going to disappear 
into the water first. The coin is in the square shaped opening. (If you 
wait until this part of the ship gets under water, you don't need Bob: The 
coin will show up above the water.) 

*     There are four little boats floating around the sinking ship, all of 
them covered with red sheets. The coin is above one of them.

* (W)  At your starting point there are two buildings, besides the hangar: 
The main building and the control tower. The coin is between the two of 
them.  

*      For this coin you'll have to wait some time: It will show up beneath 
the stern of the sinking ship after your count down clock is down to about 
seven minutes. Get this coin at the end or enjoy watching the ship sink 
slowly.   

Second Mission:              

Since the weather is very nasty in this mission, the coins are difficult 
to locate some times! Try to memorize the shape of the shoreline by going 
back to the first mission. It is actually almost shaped like the mirror 
image of a big E, looking at it from your start point; the two light houses 
being at the ends of the top and the bottom strokes. If you can't find a 
coin, try to find the location in the first mission's scenario (which -as 
you know- is the same as in the second one, but it looks quite different 
at daytime!). It might even help, if you draw a rough sketch of the scenario.

*       Fly slightly to the left after take off. Go to the lighthouse at the 
shore near your start point. Pluck the coin from the top of the tower.

*       Fly in roughly the same direction, where the sinking ship was in the 
first mission. Go to the shoreline where the middle 'stroke' of the E is. 
You can see a rock with a very characteristic form: Its peak is pointed 
very sharply. The coin is above the peak.

*       If you fly again towards that rock with the sharp peak and continue 
to fly to the land, you can see the hospital to the right in the far distance. 
To your left are some houses at both sides of a street. Follow the street 
until you come to a fork. The right street leads to the hospital, the left 
one follows roughly the shoreline. Follow the left street until you see 
a lone group of trees to your right. The coin is between these trees! (This 
one took me some time...) If you look at the group from above, you'll notice, 
that the inner trees form a perfect circle!

* (W)   Follow the street to the hospital by taking the right turn at the 
fork, which I mentioned above (the left one leads to the coin amidst the 
trees...). Follow that right street until the next fork and take a left there. 
Fly towards the settlement around the hospital until you almost reach the 
main crossing with the traffic light. BEFORE this crossing there is a tall, 
brown building on the left side, and before that building are two identical, 
smaller houses quite close to each other. The coin is between them. I predict 
some heavy swearing from your winch man - ignore him.

*        If you approach your first target of the second mission (the little 
boat) and look above it, you will notice something like a star, glowing 
in the darkness. Fly towards it at a height of around 620 to 650 feet. This 
coin is not so easy to get, because estimating your distance to it is very 
difficult. There is nothing else around you could relate it to. The wind 
doesn't help, either. Patience - you'll manage to get it.

THIRD STAGE (Missoula Mts.)   

First Mission:

The area of this stage is very big, and it is easy too get lost in there, 
especially at night. It involves quite long flying times, and you have to 
deal with big height differences. (Personally, I enjoy flying there the 
most.) It is very difficult to describe everything to the last detail, so 
I suggest you fly over the entire area a couple of times, following a certain 
pattern, in order to cover everything, and in order to get a general idea 
about the geography. I also suggest getting the coins this time in the order, 
in which I listed them. That way you will be able to identify the different 
locations much easier, since I related them to each other.             

*     Turn slightly to your left at the heli port. You can see a very tall 
mountain in the distance. Its highest peak has a prominent, very sharply 
pointed tip. The coin is right over that tip. Remember that mountain and 
get the NEXT coin FIRST!

*    There is a little park in the middle of the town. The coin is hovering 
above the fountain. 
After you got it go to the mountain, I was talking about. After you got 
the coin from there turn again towards the town and the river, which leads 
from the town to the valley.

*     Follow the river until you reach the fork. Follow the left arm until 
you see quite high on the left side some plateaus in the snow. The second 
group of plateaus has one, which is higher than the rest - it almost reaches 
the forest. The coin is over that plateau; your altitude meter should 
indicate something around 1700 feet. Should it indicate more than 2000 feet, 
you probably have landed at the THIRD group of plateaus, which is a nice 
place, too; but there is nothing besides a pretty view. 

*     Leaving the plateau, cross the river and fly over some more plateaus 
on the other side. Follow the snow-covered ridge slightly to your right 
until you reach a sharp drop. Following that drop descent in direction of 
the single building, sitting rather dangerously on a big rock. As you descent 
you will notice a group of trees near the houses, the inner ones forming 
a circle. The coin is in that circle.                                    

*    Follow that same ridge from before to the top of the next mountain, 
where you will find a single hut and the coin behind it. The place is very 
close to the previous one - it should take you less than one minute!

Second Mission:                 

Since you know the terrain by now, I trust you'll find the locations without 
major problems. So the following coins are being introduced without any 
particular order. There is only one coin, for which you need the winch man. 
And that's very good news, because in order to get him down the rope, you 
have to go through the whole first and half of the second part of the mission! 
And this one is one of the nastier ones! You might need your time, to put 
the helicopter down there somehow, and to get to that rock upriver, but 
don't forget: You don't have to worry about a hard landing, just put that 
thing down, before you crash against the rocks! It might be tempting to 
finish the mission at the same time, since you already did half of it! Don't 
do it - you will probably only become frustrated: There is not much time 
left in that mission; and if you have to hurry too much, you might mess 
up things! As for the order, in which you get the coins: Some coins are 
on the same way, and - if you are quick - you can get two or more in the 
same try. Decide yourself. 

*       One coin is floating above the church of the town.

* (W)  This coin is between the two groups of buildings at the other side 
of the park. Bobby, it's swinging time again...! 

*      Fly directly into the direction your helicopter is headed to at the 
start of the mission. You'll reach a street near the side of a hill, coming 
out of a tunnel. Follow the street by going right. There will come a new 
tunnel section, covered with snow. Cross the little hill and continue to 
follow the street. You will see the coin, sitting before the entrance of 
another tunnel.

*      Follow the river and take the left arm. You have to fly for quite 
some time, passing both places of action! The coin will show up above the 
water. 

*      Follow the river, and this time, take the right arm. Follow it until 
the river narrows and ends in a small lake. Right at the point, where it 
becomes narrow, fly up the left riverbank. You'll see three huts and some 
tents in front of them. The coin is in the open space between the huts.

FOURTH STAGE (Hickory Canyon)

First Mission:                 

*       This coin you already saw, when you cleared the mission: On the flat 
wagon of the train you have to fish the two guys from! To get this coin 
at the same time when you try to clear the mission is tempting, but -again- 
I advice against it. All the missions involving the winch are quite 
difficult! It happens very easily, that your man hits something. And that 
means, that your chances, to get a gold medal, shrink! If you try to get 
the coin, you increase the chances of getting minus points. (Whereas, if 
you do the coin separately, it doesn't matter how many times he bumps into 
the wall above the tunnels...)

*      If you lift off and follow the railway track to the left, you will 
come to a bridge. Follow the track until the bridge reaches the opposite 
riverbank. Look under the last segment of the bridge, before the concrete 
pillar, and right before the track starts to run on the usual bed again. 
This coin is missed very easily!

*  (W)  There is another heli port, the one you use at the start of the next 
mission. You can find it easily by following the track behind your starting 
point. (You don't have to go all the way to that heliport; your target is 
actually before that. I just mentioned it to give a general idea about the 
direction.) After some flying along the rails you'll come to an open area 
with some houses and farms. Keep to the right side of the track and aim 
at the first twin set of silos. Both of the silos are made of white brick 
stones and have blue roofs. 
The problem is, that the coin is in BETWEEN the silos, and you need the 
winch man. You'll have to go to the bridge first, in order to get the winch 
man out. And that bridge is quite far from the silos! I also doubt, you 
will find the silos at once, coming directly from the bridge, after you 
got Bob out.
 It would be therefore not a bad idea, to use some time left after getting 
another coin, to locate those silos. Then, at your next trial, go to the 
bridge to get Bob down and fly directly from there to the silos.

*     There is some kind of steel structure at the complex of buildings at 
the right shore of the lake. It seems to be the place of a company, processing 
trees. The coin is clearly visible under that structure. Don't bother Bob 
with it - it would take to much time, and it can be easily done without 
him!

*     Behind that tree processing company's place there is a farm, surrounded 
by a fence. In the middle of the lawn there are some trusses of hay, the 
coin hovers above the top of them. Very easy.

Second Mission:            

*    When you start the mission, you will face a ridge in the distance. Fly 
to the right end of that ridge, where it starts to descent to the right. 
The coin is above a clearing in the forest. This one is not so easy! Patience.