Saints Row: How to get helicopters and the helipad

Apart from the wingsuit, there are other methods that allow you to breeze through the skies in Saints Row. Given that this is an open-world game, you’re bound to encounter vehicles that you can commandeer for exploration and combat. Here’s our Saints Row guide to help you acquire helicopters and unlock the helipad.

Note: We’ll have a Saints Row guides and features hub soon, so stay tuned.

Saints Row guide – How to get helicopters and unlock the helipad

Helicopters from open-world exploration

There are a couple of ways to obtain helicopters in Saints Row. The first is by exploring Santo Ileso. One particular example is the mansion overlooking the hills of Monte Vista. It’s directly northeast of the church HQ.

You can acquire this chopper at any point in time once you can roam around in the city. However, as far as I can tell, there’s no way to save it in your HQ’s garage without a helipad. Still, it does respawn in the same location, so you can always come back for it.

Unlocking the helipad via The Forge mission

To unlock the helipad in Saints Row, you’ll need to progress further in the campaign. Specifically, you’ll need to complete some main missions involving Neenah. After her car is destroyed by Sergio of the Los Panteros, she’ll vow revenge. This starts a mission called “The Forge.”

The mission involves meeting up with Neenah and driving to commandeer a helicopter in the marina. You’ll then take it to the Panteros’ factory near the desert. You’ll even get to blow up lots of hostiles thanks to its machine guns and rockets.

Inside the factory, you’ll face more opponents and destroy vehicles until you reach Sergio’s car. Neenah will then need to activate the controls, and you’ll have to press a few buttons located in the room.

Multiple enemy waves will also spawn, so watch out. One hammer-wielding specialist will chase you constantly, so just back away and pepper your foe with shots until you can do a takedown.

After the explosion, you’ll have to cut through the burning ruins until you see a getaway vehicle. Neenah will try to hotwire it while you hold off the mobs.

Once that’s done, hop inside the car to make your escape.

Completing “The Forge” mission in Saints Row nets you the Thompson helicopter, as well as the helipad (which appears next to the church’s garage). You’ll then be able to bring any choppers that you’ve hijacked so you can save them for future use.

Note: Other helicopters and aircraft in Saints Row include the Saints Tornado and VTOL, but these can only be acquired much later in the campaign.

Saints Row is available via the Epic Games Store.