Rust Attack Helicopter Controls
Pilot flies and fires rockets; the gunner runs the chin turret from a night-vision screen.
The keys
| Input | Does |
|---|---|
| W (press once, then hold) | Start engine, then climb |
| S / A / D + Mouse | Descend, turn, pitch and roll — same paradigm as the minicopter |
| Left Ctrl + W/A/S/D | Shuttle drive — taxi on the wheels |
| Left Mouse (pilot) | Fire rockets |
| Right Mouse (pilot) | Flares (30s cooldown) |
| E on the green monitor (gunner) | Enter the turret targeting screen — ESC leaves it |
| Mouse / Left Mouse / R / Middle Mouse (gunner) | Aim / fire / reload / zoom the chin turret |
| Right Mouse (gunner) | Fire rockets from the gunner seat |
| X / Spacebar | Swap seats / dismount |
| F | Headlights |
Before it moves
Low Grade in the orange tank behind the pilot (500 capacity, ~20 minutes) — E on the ground, or hold Left Alt and look at the tank to refuel mid-flight. Rockets and flares load via the Rockets & Flares panel, and the turret takes auto-turret-compatible guns fitted under the gunner seat — both only while the pilot seat is empty.
What goes wrong
- !It only accepts High Velocity and Incendiary rockets. Standard rockets won't load — 36 capacity, roughly 8 seconds between volleys.
- !Only the gunner can use the chin turret, and the targeting screen is deliberately blurry night-vision — practice before it matters.
- !It self-levels and flies more forgivingly than a mini, which makes over-correcting the mouse the main way new pilots crash it.
Sources: CorrosionHour attack heli guide — checked 2026-08-04. Keys no source documents are left out rather than guessed.