The Dodo in GTA III is a vehicle that appears at Francis International Airport in the southern area of Shoreside Vale. It is notoriously difficult to fly, hence the name.

Some say the plane was intentionally limited by having it's wings clipped, as part of a number of changes put into the game after the 2001 WTC attacks. Take note of the icon in this guide; it features a picture of a full winged Dodo as seen in later GTA versions.

In GTA III, you have access to a "clip winged" version only. This guide is designed for players of the non-modded PC edition of GTA III.

Before flying the Dodo, check your game controls and identify what keys are used for "dodo up" and "dodo down".

By default it is num 6 for "dodo up" although players with laptops or smaller keyboards that lack a numeric pad will need to change this to a different key.

Go to the airport and grab yourself a Dodo plane. It should appear in one of the airport hangars.

Drive the Dodo to one of the two runways facing Staunton Island, so you can see the skyscrapers in the distance.

Line the plane to the center of the runway strip. You may wish to use the diagonal runway strip to your right, as it faces away from structures, so if you fail to gain height you have less chance of crashing.

Begin driving using the acceleration key (by default this is W, use the same keys to turn and accelerate the Dodo as you would with a car).

The Dodo will begin moving forward. Drive for at least 3 seconds, then press the "Dodo down" key on your keyboard and do not let go (remember, you set this key earlier, if you have forgotten go back to Preflight Checks above).

The Dodo will become more tactile on the runway. You should now be pressing both the acceleration key and the "Dodo down" key together at the same time.

Release the "Dodo down" key after between 5 and 7 seconds. The exact time will depend how much speed you built up before taking off, but this amount of time is consistent with departing from the end of a clean runway. You will get a feel for what works best. Usually it is best to take off just before the plane begins to spark on the ground, and without too much grinding on the road.

If you hold down the "Dodo down" key for 7 seconds or more, the plane may begin to bounce which will make it come to an abrupt stop or crash.

Bonus tip: if you are using mods and have access to a speedometer, release the "Dodo down" key once you reach 220 to 240.

You have now released the "Dodo down" key.

The Dodo will begin to bounce from the ground and lift up quite rapidly. If you held the "dodo down" key for too long, it will soar upwards very quickly. If you got it just right, it will move up as a nice rate.

As the plane begins to rise, the speed of the Dodo will slow down. Do not let it continue rising; use the "Dodo down" key to level the plane out. Do not hold it down. Instead, tap it to even the Dodo's angle. The plane may continue to rise up, so you will have to keep tapping the "Dodo down" key to get to the right level.

If you move downwards too far, tap the "Dodo up" key to move up again. But be careful; going down raises speed, going up lessens it.

Now comes the hard part. You must keep the Dodo going in the air by driving in a way that is sensitive to the maintaining speed. The Dodo does not handle like a car, and it's ability to stay in the air could be considered "glitchy". Use the following tips:

• If you keep going upwards, the Dodo will lose speed and fall. Try to keep level or pointed slightly downwards, and only use the "Dodo up" key when you are moving at high speed.
  
• When the Dodo goes up, it loses speed. So when it goes down, it gains speed. Keeping level lets you maintain a constant speed. It will be normal for you to dip upwards and downwards to keep in flight.
  
• Turning slowly at a level angle can help you gain speed if you need it. Do not turn too fast or the vehicle may lose speed or go out of control. Driving at a level angle, or even at an angle that is slightly downwards, can help it gain speed too. It will take some practice to get this right. If you do not level the plane, it is likely to lose speed after a while and fall out of the sky.

Flying the Dodo requires practice. You will get a feel for the controls, and learn how to carefully angle the plane to build and release speed. It is possible to gain height well above all buildings, and fly indefinitely over the entire map.

There are not many areas in which a Dodo has room to land or take off from again, as lamp posts, vehicles, and other street hazards will cause it to crash.

The airport is the only wide area without obstruction, from which the Dodo can easily be piloted from.

In the event you do want to land the Dodo, drop altitude slowly and reduce the speed carefully. Take note the Dodo is not an elegant lander and will likely bounce when it makes contact with the ground.

The Dodo will crash if:

• It loses too much speed.
  
• It is turned too harshly during flight
  
• It is sent into an accidental dive by liberal use of the "Dodo down" key
  
• It clips a building, structure, or object (including lamp posts) effectively bringing it to a stop
  
• Strong turning / banking at low speed

If the Dodo appears to slow down in flight, or struggle to go higher, it will probably stall or end up spinning out of control.

You can recover a Dodo from crashing by gaining speed in a dive, and leveling out and returning to a straight flight pattern from a lower altitude. If you are not in an ideal flying space, it may be worth it to fly back to the airport and initiate a second take off.

Persist, don't get angry, and learn the sensitivity of the Dodo through trial and error. You have to get the right balance of turning, accelerating, moving up and down, and keeping speed. And when you get that right, you will succeed.

Feel free to share your tips and thoughts in the comments.