UH-144 Falcon

''Falcon redirects here. For other uses, see Falcon (disambiguation).''

The UH-144 Falcon is the primary air-to-ground support and troop transport aircraft of the UNSC Army manufactured by Misriah Armory. First introduced in 2497, the Falcon was common with Army garrison forces among the Inner Colonies during the Human-Covenant War.

Design details
The UH-144 Falcon is a versatile, tilt- and transverse-rotor, multi-purpose utility helicopter. Two Falcons can transport a fully-equipped fireteam faster than any other previous system, and can provide overwhelming fire support in most weather conditions.

In the campaign, the aircraft's crew consists of one pilot, two crewmen who may serve as door gunners, and three passengers. However, in multiplayer, there is only room for one pilot and two gunners.

Propulsion
The Falcon's rotors are mounted on a pair of stub wings on each side of the fuselage. Since the Falcon is a tiltrotor, the rotors are mounted on rotating shafts at the end of the wings. This combines the vertical lift capability of a helicopter with the speed and range of a conventional fixed-wing aircraft.

To take off, the Falcon's rotors are angled so that the rotor blades are horizontal, lifting the way a helicopter rotor does. When the Falcon has reached the desired height, the pilot tilts the rotors forward so that the rotor blades are near vertical. In this mode the wings provide some of the lift, and the rotors provide thrust as a propeller. Additionally, two small jets are located toward the back of the Falcon, facing to the rear. These contribute to the Falcon's forward propulsion, and glow red when the Falcon is moving forward at high speed.

To protect passengers and crew from the downwash caused by the rotors, the words "BEWARE OF BLAST" are painted on the edge of the floor of the passenger cabin.

Armaments
The base model of the UH-144 Falcon features a chin-mounted M638 autocannon as its primary armament, capable of firing explosive 20mm shells at a moderate rate, in short bursts. This autocannon provides suppressive fire when the Falcon is extracting or deploying troops. While the autocannon is the Falcon's default armament, additional weaponry on the Falcon can be implemented at the Falcon's crew's discretion. Depending on the variants, the Falcon is either equipped with two side-mounted M247H machine guns or with two side-mounted M460 Automatic Grenade Launchers. The emplacements are installed on flexible mount hardpoints located on either side of the Falcon's open cabin.

Variants

 * UH-144A: Features two side-mounted M460 Automatic Grenade Launchers as secondary armament.
 * UH-144S: Features two side-mounted M247H Heavy Machine Guns as secondary armament.

Trivia

 * A falcon is a bird of prey, in keeping with the UNSC's tradition of naming atmospheric vehicles after real animals with the exceptions of the Longsword, Shortsword, and Sabre, which are named after bladed weapons.
 * The Falcon is nicknamed the "Warthog of the skies" by fans and Bungie employees.
 * Superficially, the Falcon looks rather similar to the United States Marine Corps' V-22 Osprey tilt rotor. However, the Osprey's rotor blades tilt directly forward in flight.
 * As seen in early concept art, it appears the Falcon would originally have possessed ducted air fans, like those of the AV-14 Hornet and D77-TC Pelican, rather than rotors.
 * Much like UNSC aircraft in Halo Wars, Falcons that cannot be piloted have yellow windshields. In campaign, if one punches out the windows of these Falcons, they'll notice that there is no character inside piloting the Falcon.
 * A Falcon avatar gear is one of the bonus items included with the Halo: Reach Limited and Legendary editions.
 * Unlike most vehicles in Halo: Reach, the smoke from a badly damaged Falcon blocks a substantial portion of the screen, increasing the difficulty of flying a critically damaged aircraft.
 * Unless the player jumps on top of a rotor hub, he or she cannot be killed by the Falcon's rotors. However, touching the rotor hub will kill the player instantly.
 * It is possible to fly the Falcon in the first level. The player must hit the Falcon that Jun is not in with an overcharged plasma pistol shot. When it falls, the Falcon has a small chance of flipping on the ground and forcing the pilot out.
 * Due to balancing purposes, the Falcon in multiplayer lacks the chin-mounted autocannon that is normally usable by the pilot.
 * Elites can hijack Falcons in the campaign, disrupting the flow of the level and forcing the player to start it over again.
 * Falcons are seen flying past in a screenshot from the Halo 4 level Reclaimer released during the E3 2012 Xbox Media Briefing. However, they do not appear in the final version of the game.

List of appearances

 * Halo: The Fall of Reach
 * Adjunct
 * Remember Reach
 * Birth of a Spartan
 * Deliver Hope
 * Halo: Reach
 * Halo: Last Light
 * Halo: Ground Command
 * Halo Mythos