How to Fly Jets and Helicopters in Battlefield 6: Complete Aviation Guide

There’s nothing quite like the feeling of swooping down in a jet, unleashing a devastating strafing run on an enemy position, and pulling up just before slamming into a building. Or piloting a helicopter, providing close air support while your gunners rain down fire on unsuspecting targets below. Air vehicles in Battlefield 6 are absolute game-changers—when you know how to use them.

Here’s the problem: a skilled pilot can legitimately turn the tide of an entire match, but getting to that skill level is tough. Air vehicles are limited, always contested, and there’s a steep learning curve between “I just crashed into the ground” and “I’m an ace pilot.” Plus, your teammates won’t be thrilled if you waste the team’s only jet by nosediving into a mountain 30 seconds after takeoff.

So how do you get good without ruining your team’s chances? That’s exactly what we’re covering in this guide—where to practice safely, how to actually control these beasts, and the tactics that separate noob pilots from sky-dominating veterans.

Why Air Vehicles Matter So Much

Before we dive into controls, let’s talk about why mastering jets and helicopters is worth the effort.

On large-scale modes like Conquest and Escalation, air superiority often determines who wins. A good pilot can:

• Destroy enemy vehicles before they reach objectives
• Clear capture points of infantry with strafing runs
• Hunt down enemy aircraft to maintain air dominance
• Provide reconnaissance by spotting enemies (learn more about spotting mechanics)
• Force enemies into cover through suppression, disrupting their pushes

Jets excel at hit-and-run attacks and air-to-air combat, while helicopters provide sustained fire support and can capture objectives in some modes. Both require completely different skill sets, which we’ll break down.

The catch? Limited availability. Most maps only spawn one or two air vehicles per team, meaning competition is fierce. You need to be ready to grab them immediately and actually contribute, or you’re just wasting a valuable asset.

Where to Practice Flying Without Ruining Public Matches

Here’s the golden rule: don’t learn to fly in ranked Conquest matches. Your team will (rightfully) be pissed when you crash their only jet into the ocean. Instead, use these practice methods:

Portal Mode: Your Flight School (Best Option)

The absolute best way to practice is through Battlefield 6 Portal. The community has created dedicated flight training experiences where you can crash, burn, and respawn without consequences.

How to access Portal flight training:

1. From the main menu, select Community (bottom-left corner)
2. Click Browse Servers
3. Look for servers with names like “Air Vehicle Training,” “Flight School,” or “Jets & Helis Practice”
4. Join one and practice to your heart’s content

Can’t find an active server? Host one yourself:

1. Find an air vehicle practice experience from the server browser
2. Click View Server Info (right side of screen)
3. Scroll down and select Host or Host Locally

Important distinction:

• Verified servers: Give full XP but can’t always be hosted locally (may hit quota limits)
• Custom servers: Can be hosted locally anytime, but give limited XP

For pure practice purposes, Custom is fine since you’re not grinding XP for leveling anyway—you’re building muscle memory.

Recommended Portal Experience Codes

These are community-tested flight training experiences. To use them, go to Search Experiences in Portal and enter these codes:

DXS4: Vehicle and Soldier Shooting Range (by AP_Atipoya)

• Comprehensive shooting range with all vehicles
• Great for testing different loadouts and learning weapon systems
• Includes targets for practicing accuracy

6GVY: Helicopter and Jets Practice (by Tricky)

• Dedicated to air vehicle training
• Usually includes respawning targets
• Perfect for building basic flight skills

X8XB: Ace Pursuit (by Battlefield Official)

• Official DICE-created experience
• Focuses on dogfighting skills
• More combat-oriented than pure practice

These experiences let you crash repeatedly, experiment with maneuvers, and actually understand the physics before taking a vehicle into a real match.

Solo Practice Tips

When practicing alone, focus on these fundamentals:

• Basic flight controls: Throttle, pitch, roll, yaw
• Landing and takeoff: Sounds basic, but landing a jet without exploding takes practice
• Evasive maneuvers: Barrel rolls, loops, sharp turns
• Target acquisition: Using free look while maintaining flight path
• Weapon systems: Understanding when to use rockets vs cannons vs missiles

Don’t worry about complex tactics yet. Master staying in the air first, everything else comes after.

How to Get Jets and Helicopters in Regular Matches

Once you’re confident in your skills, here’s how to actually get your hands on air vehicles in standard multiplayer:

Spawning Air Vehicles

From the Spawn Screen:

• On most maps, you can spawn directly into helicopters and jets
• Click their icons at your team’s base on the deployment map
• This only works if the vehicle is available (not destroyed or currently in use)

At Match Start:

• Early in matches, vehicles often aren’t available for spawn-in
• You’ll need to physically run to the vehicle spawn location
• This creates a literal race to claim air vehicles—be quick!

Pro tip: Memorize vehicle spawn locations on your favorite maps. Knowing exactly where to sprint at match start gives you the edge over players who are looking around confused.

Best Maps for Air Vehicle Access

If flying is your priority, play these maps and modes:

Operation Firestorm (Escalation/Conquest):

• Large play space with both jets and helicopters
• Multiple phases in Escalation mean more vehicle spawns
• Great for learning air-to-ground attacks

Mirak Valley (Escalation/Conquest):

• Similar to Firestorm—large map, multiple air vehicles
• More varied terrain for practicing low-altitude flying
• Excellent for helicopter support gameplay

These maps give you the best chance to consistently access air vehicles. Check out our complete maps ranking guide to see which maps favor vehicle play.

Understanding availability: Vehicle limits vary by mode and map. Escalation typically offers more vehicles as the match progresses, while modes like Close Quarters playlists have no air vehicles at all. Learn about all game modes to understand which ones support your playstyle.

Essential Piloting Tips and Controls

Now let’s get into the actual flying techniques that’ll transform you from “that guy who wasted our jet” to “holy crap, our pilot is carrying.”

Critical Settings to Change

Before you even take off, adjust these settings:

Navigate to: Settings → Gameplay → Vehicles

1. Enable Helicopter Control Assists This is huge for helicopter pilots. With assists on, your heli automatically hovers when you’re not giving input. This lets you focus on aiming and shooting without constantly fighting to maintain altitude.

Experienced pilots sometimes disable this for more precise control, but if you’re learning, turn this on immediately.

2. Consider Rebinding Jet Controls (PC) If you’re on mouse and keyboard, the default jet controls can feel awkward. Many skilled pilots rebind:

• Yaw to horizontal mouse movement: Makes aiming during strafing runs more intuitive
• Pitch to vertical mouse movement: Allows for smoother loops and turns
• Roll to keyboard keys: Frees up mouse for precision aiming

Experiment with what feels natural. Controller players generally have fewer issues with default bindings since analog sticks are better suited to vehicle control.

3. Adjust Sensitivity Vehicle sensitivity should be higher than your infantry settings for quick target acquisition but not so high that you overcorrect. Find your sweet spot through trial and error in Portal practice sessions.

Want to optimize everything? Check our best settings and optimization guide for complete configuration recommendations.

Universal Flying Tips (Jets and Helicopters)

These apply regardless of which aircraft you’re piloting:

Use Free Look Constantly

• Bound to a key/button, Free Look lets you look around without changing your flight direction
• Essential for spotting targets before your attack run
• Helps you track enemy aircraft during dogfights
• Check your six (behind you) constantly for threats

Master the Map

• Before diving in for a strafing run, study the minimap
• Know where enemies are clustered
• Identify threats (anti-air, enemy aircraft) before they become problems
• Plan your approach and escape routes in advance

Target Priority Matters Always eliminate threats in this order:

1. Enemy aircraft: They can chase you down and kill you
2. Anti-air vehicles: They’ll lock onto you and force defensive flying
3. Enemy armor: Tanks and APCs threatening your ground forces
4. Infantry clusters: Easy targets on objectives

Flying directly to objective points and getting hit by three different anti-air missiles is how you waste a vehicle. Play smart, eliminate threats methodically.

Manage Your Countermeasures Both jets and helicopters have flares or other countermeasures to break missile locks. Learn:

• The sound/visual cue of being locked onto
• When to pop countermeasures (wait until missile is fired, not just locked)
• Cooldown timings so you know when you’re vulnerable
• How to combine countermeasures with evasive maneuvers

Jet-Specific Tactics

Learn Speed Thresholds Jets have optimal speeds for different maneuvers:

• Minimum speed for tight turns: Too fast and you’ll overshoot, too slow and you’ll stall
• Combat speed: Fast enough to evade but slow enough to aim
• Escape speed: Maximum throttle to get out of danger zones

Practice finding these sweet spots. They vary slightly between jet types, so test each one.

Strafing Run Technique

1. Identify target from high altitude
2. Approach from an angle that lets you escape quickly
3. Align your run so your flight path naturally moves you past the target
4. Fire in controlled bursts (don’t hold down trigger)
5. Pull up immediately and gain altitude for next run

Dogfighting Basics When fighting enemy aircraft:

• Force them into turning battles at your optimal speed
• Use your environment (fly low to force them into obstacles)
• Communicate with friendly pilots for coordinated attacks
• Don’t commit to long chases—other threats may emerge

Anti-Air Missile Evasion This is critical: Anti-air missiles have infinite vertical lock-on range.

That means flying straight up won’t save you. Instead:

• Move horizontally away from the threat
• Use buildings and terrain as line-of-sight breakers
• Pop flares AFTER the missile launches (you’ll hear the distinct sound)
• Combine evasion with sharp turns to throw off tracking

Helicopter-Specific Tactics

Positioning Is Everything Unlike jets which are constantly moving, helicopters can hover and provide sustained fire. This makes positioning crucial:

• Find cover behind buildings or terrain
• Pop up, engage, drop back down
• Never hover in the open for extended periods
• Use altitude changes to break locks

Gunner Communication Helicopters are most effective with gunners. If you’re piloting:

• Position so your gunners have clear shots
• Call out targets over voice chat
• Adjust altitude and angle based on their needs
• Protect your gunners—their survival is your survival

Transport vs Attack Helicopters

• Transport helis: Focus on rapid insertion and extraction of infantry, not combat
• Attack helis: Dedicated combat role, prioritize vehicle destruction and ground support

Know which you’re piloting and play accordingly.

Low-Altitude Flying Helicopters excel at low-altitude support where jets struggle:

• Fly nap-of-the-earth (extremely low) to avoid detection
• Use buildings and geography to mask your approach
• Be aware of obstacles (power lines, towers, trees)
• Pop up for attack runs, drop back to safety

Understanding Vehicle Loadouts

Both jets and helicopters have customizable loadouts that dramatically affect their role. Experiment with different configurations:

Jets typically offer:

• Anti-air missiles for dogfighting
• Anti-ground rockets for strafing infantry/vehicles
• Different cannon types with various fire rates and damage

Helicopters typically offer:

• Rocket pods for area damage
• Anti-tank missiles for vehicle destruction
• Different MG configurations for gunner positions

For detailed optimization, check our best vehicle loadouts guide which covers every configuration.

Dealing With Anti-Air Threats

Even the best pilot can’t survive focused anti-air fire. Here’s how to handle it:

Recognize the Threat Types:

• Lock-on launchers: Give you warning tones, use countermeasures
• Wire-guided missiles: No lock warning, requires visual spotting and evasion
• AA vehicles: Typically rapid-fire with high accuracy
• MAA (Mobile Anti-Air): Dedicated anti-aircraft vehicle, extremely dangerous

Survival Strategies:

• Identify before engaging: Use spotting to mark AA threats
• Request support: Call for friendly armor or air to eliminate AA
• Use terrain: Stay low and behind cover when AA is active
• Change your approach: Don’t repeatedly attack from the same angle
• Know when to disengage: Sometimes retreating and repairing is smarter than dying

Progressing Your Pilot Skills

Like any aspect of Battlefield 6, getting good at flying requires intentional practice:

Start Small:

1. Practice taking off and landing without crashing
2. Fly complete circuits of maps without hitting anything
3. Add target practice against stationary objectives
4. Progress to moving targets (vehicles)
5. Finally, engage enemy aircraft

Track Your Improvement: Notice when things start feeling natural:

• You stop thinking about controls
• You anticipate where targets will be
• Your attack runs become smoother
• You survive longer and get more kills

Learn From Deaths: Every time you get shot down, ask:

• What killed me?
• Was I too predictable?
• Did I ignore a threat I should have eliminated first?
• Could I have used terrain better?

This mindset turns failures into lessons instead of frustration.

Class Synergy and Support

While you’re flying, your class choice still matters for when you inevitably need to bail out or defend objectives:

Engineer Class: Best for pilots

• Repair tool to fix your vehicle between engagements
• Anti-vehicle gadgets if you need to bail
• Check Engineer challenges for progression

Recon Class: Good for spotting

• Spawn Beacons for quick vehicle returns
• Recon equipment helps your team while you’re in air
• See Recon challenges for unlocks

Common Beginner Mistakes to Avoid

Watch out for these pitfalls that plague new pilots:

1. Flying Too Predictably

• Don’t make the same approach every time
• Vary your altitude, speed, and attack angles
• Predictable pilots are dead pilots

2. Ignoring Air Threats

• Always eliminate enemy aircraft first
• One enemy jet can shut down your entire attack run
• Air superiority enables everything else

3. Overcommitting to Attacks

• Know when a target isn’t worth the risk
• It’s okay to abort a run if conditions change
• Surviving is more important than one kill

4. Poor Communication

• Call out threats to your team
• Request support when needed
• Coordinate with other vehicle operators

5. Not Using Repairs

• Return to base or safe zones to repair
• Don’t fly damaged into combat
• A full-health vehicle is exponentially more effective

Flying Across Different Modes

Air vehicle effectiveness varies dramatically across game modes:

Conquest: Long matches, respawning vehicles, maximum flying time Escalation: Phased progression, vehicles unlock as match advances Breakthrough: Linear objectives, easier to predict enemy positions Rush: Similar to Breakthrough, more focused combat Open vs Closed Playlists: Affects available loadouts

Adapt your tactics to the mode. Conquest gives you time to be methodical; Breakthrough demands aggressive support of your attacking team.

Advanced Tactics for Experienced Pilots

Once you’ve mastered basics, consider these advanced techniques:

Terrain Masking:

• Use mountains, buildings, and geography to hide from radar
• Pop up for attacks, immediately drop back down
• Forces enemies to visually acquire you instead of relying on minimap

Bait and Switch:

• Intentionally draw enemy aircraft into friendly AA zones
• Feign vulnerability to lure enemies into advantageous positions
• Coordinate with ground forces for combined attacks

Altitude Management:

• High altitude: Safety, better overview, harder to hit
• Low altitude: Precision attacks, escape routes, terrain cover
• Know when to use each

Formation Flying:

• When multiple friendly aircraft are up, coordinate
• Assign roles (one for air-to-air, one for ground attack)
• Cover each other’s weak moments

Complementary Skills to Practice

Improving at air vehicles also means improving at complementary aspects:

• Vehicle combat general: Understanding armor and positioning
• Map knowledge: Where threats spawn, best approaches
• Communication: Coordinating with your squad
• Situational awareness: Reading the battlefield

Wrapping Up: From Ground to Sky

Learning to fly in Battlefield 6 takes time, but it’s one of the most rewarding skills you can develop. There’s an incredible satisfaction in mastering these machines and watching your impact on the match multiply.

Start in Portal practice servers where mistakes don’t matter. Focus on basic control before worrying about combat effectiveness. Learn one vehicle type at a time—trying to master jets and helicopters simultaneously will just confuse your muscle memory.

Most importantly, be patient with yourself. Every ace pilot you see dominating the skies started exactly where you are: crashing into mountains and wondering how anyone makes this look easy. The difference is they put in the practice time.

Grab Battlefield 6 on Steam, PlayStation, or Epic Games Store, jump into a Portal practice server, and start building those flight hours. Your team will thank you when you’re providing devastating air support instead of creating expensive craters.

See you in the skies, pilot. Try not to crash into me.

Looking for more Battlefield 6 mastery? Check out our guides on best weapon loadouts, all challenges breakdown, and optimal class builds to dominate both on the ground and in the air.