aircraft = CreateVehicle(GetHashKey("cuban800"), rPlaneSpawn, heading, true, true)
        SetEntityHeading(aircraft, heading)
        SetVehicleDoorsLocked(aircraft, 2) -- lock the doors so pirates don't get in
        SetEntityDynamic(aircraft, true)
        ActivatePhysics(aircraft)
        SetVehicleForwardSpeed(aircraft, 60.0)
        SetHeliBladesFullSpeed(aircraft) -- works for planes I guess
        SetVehicleEngineOn(aircraft, true, true, false)
        ControlLandingGear(aircraft, 3) -- retract the landing gear
        OpenBombBayDoors(aircraft) -- opens the hatch below the plane for added realism
        SetEntityProofs(aircraft, true, false, true, false, false, false, false, false)

        pilot = CreatePedInsideVehicle(aircraft, 1, GetHashKey("s_m_m_pilot_02"), -1, true, true)
        SetBlockingOfNonTemporaryEvents(pilot, true) -- ignore explosions and other shocking events
        SetPedRandomComponentVariation(pilot, false)
        SetPedKeepTask(pilot, true)
        SetPlaneMinHeightAboveTerrain(aircraft, 50) -- the plane shouldn't dip below the defined altitude

        TaskVehicleDriveToCoord(pilot, aircraft, vector3(dropCoords.x, dropCoords.y, dropCoords.z) + vector3(0.0, 0.0, 500.0), 60.0, 0, GetHashKey("cuban800"), 262144, 15.0, -1.0) -- to the dropsite, could be replaced with a task sequence