The Scrap Transport Helicopter, or scrap heli, is Rust’s team aircraft. It costs 1,250 scrap from the Air Wolf vendor at Bandit Camp, has 1,000 HP, and carries a pilot, one passenger and a whole squad standing in the open cargo bay behind them.
It is slower and clumsier than the minicopter, and it has no guns like the attack helicopter. What it does better than anything else is move people. This scrap transport helicopter Rust guide covers where to buy it, how to fly it, how many players fit, what it takes to shoot one down, the flare port it got in November 2025, and how to keep it alive between flights.
- What It Is
- Stats
- How to Get One
- How to Fly It
- How Many Players Fit
- How to Destroy It
- SAMs and Flares
- Repair and Decay
- Tips
- FAQ
What Is the Scrap Transport Helicopter in Rust?
The scrap transport helicopter arrived in the Transport Helicopter update at the end of August 2019. Facepunch built it out of corrugated scrap metal around a big open cargo bay, and its whole design is about carrying people. There are two real seats in the cockpit. The left one is the pilot’s, and the right one is for a passenger who cannot fly it. Everyone else just walks on board through the back and rides standing up.
Those standing riders are not locked into a seat, so they can move around, crouch, swap items, heal and shoot out of the open sides while the heli flies. That makes it the go-to vehicle for moving a raid team, landing a group on the Oil Rig, or dropping players onto a base roof.
It has bulletproof panels on both sides of the cabin, and it has more health than the minicopter or the attack helicopter. As it takes damage it starts to smoke and then burn, the same warning the other aircraft give you.
Scrap Transport Helicopter Stats
| Stat | Scrap Transport Helicopter |
|---|---|
| Price | 1,250 scrap base price, Air Wolf vendor at Bandit Camp |
| Health | 1,000 HP |
| Seats | 2 (pilot and passenger), plus an open cargo bay for standing riders |
| Riders in the back | About 12 comfortably, 20 or more crammed in |
| Fuel | Low grade fuel, 500 tank, 30 a minute |
| Flight time | About 16 minutes 40 seconds on a full tank |
| Starting fuel | 100 low grade (20% of a stack) when bought |
| Repair | Hammer, 750 metal fragments from zero to full |
| Decay | 8 hours outside, 48 hours under a roof |
| Flares | 1 flare slot, up to 5 flares (since November 2025) |
| Junkyard shredder | 300 scrap at full health |
| Admin spawn | spawn scraptransporthelicopter |
How to Get a Scrap Heli in Rust
Scrap helis used to spawn around the map, but since the Air Wolf vendor was added to Bandit Camp in June 2020 the only way to get one on a vanilla server is to buy it. Walk up to the Air Wolf terminal at Bandit Camp, pick the Scrap Transport Helicopter and pay. It spawns on the helipad next to the vendor with 100 low grade fuel in the tank.
| Aircraft | Base price | Health | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hot Air Balloon | 150 scrap | n/a | No seats, riders stand |
| Minicopter | 750 scrap | 750 | 2 |
| Scrap Transport Helicopter | 1,250 scrap | 1,000 | 2 + cargo bay |
| Attack Helicopter | 2,250 scrap | 850 | Pilot + gunner |
Two things catch new buyers out. First, NPC vendors use dynamic pricing, so 1,250 is the base price, not a promise. If a lot of people have bought helis recently it costs more. Second, buying any aircraft clears the pad. Every vehicle sitting on it is removed when the next person buys, so fly yours off the pad the moment it spawns. If you are short on scrap, the minicopter is the cheaper first aircraft, and our Rust vehicles list compares every ride in the game.
How to Fly the Scrap Transport Helicopter
Get in the left cockpit seat to fly. The controls are the same as the minicopter: W adds rotor power to climb, S takes it away to drop, A and D turn the nose, and the mouse tilts the heli forward to fly and sideways to strafe. Since November 2025 the pilot also fires flares with right click.
The difference is weight. The scrap heli takes longer to speed up, longer to stop and longer to turn, so plan your landings early. Come in slow, level the heli out before you touch down and land on flat ground. Clipping a tree or a building with the rotors at speed hurts it badly.
Fuel goes fast. The tank holds 500 low grade fuel and burns 30 a minute, so a full tank is about 16 minutes 40 seconds in the air. The 100 fuel it comes with lasts only about 3 minutes 20 seconds, which is enough to get home from Bandit Camp and not much more. Hold E on the fuel tank to open it and top it up.
How Many Players Fit in a Scrap Heli?
There are only two seats, but seats are not the limit. The cargo bay fits about 12 players standing comfortably, and testing on staging squeezed more than 20 in. Riders in the back are free to move, crouch and shoot, and they stay on board as long as they keep their footing.
There is no built-in storage. Whatever you bring has to be in your own inventory, so a raid team carries its own explosives and the heli just gets everyone there in one trip. Common uses:
- Oil Rig runs. Land a full team on the Oil Rig together instead of trickling in by boat.
- Roof raids. Drop the team and their C4 on a base roof and skip the outer walls.
- Monument hopping. Move a group between the Launch Site, the Airfield and other big monuments fast.
- Moving base. Get a whole group across the map at the start of a wipe.
How to Destroy a Scrap Transport Helicopter
With 1,000 HP the scrap heli is the toughest of the Air Wolf aircraft, but a parked one is still cheap to kill. These are the amounts needed to destroy one from full health:
| Weapon | Amount | Sulfur |
|---|---|---|
| Timed Explosive Charge (C4) | 1 | 2,200 |
| Rocket | 2 | 2,800 |
| Satchel Charge | 2 | 960 |
| MLRS Rocket | 2 | n/a |
| Homing Missile | 4 | 400 |
| High Velocity Rocket | 5 | 1,000 |
| F1 Grenade | 8 | 480 |
| SAM Site | 11 shots | 110 |
| Beancan Grenade | 13 | 1,560 |
| Molotov Cocktail | 15 | 0 |
| Incendiary 5.56 (Assault Rifle) | 69 | 863 |
| Explosive 5.56 (Assault Rifle) | 80 | 2,000 |
In the air, the homing missile launcher and SAM sites are the real threats. On the ground, 2 satchels at 960 sulfur or 8 F1 grenades at 480 sulfur are the cheapest explosive kills, and 15 molotovs cost no sulfur at all. Our raid calculator has the same numbers for every base part.
A destroyed scrap heli leaves a burning wreck. Once the fire is out the debris can be harvested for a big pile of metal fragments and charcoal, which is why a jackhammer is worth bringing if you shoot one down.
SAM Sites, Homing Missiles and Flares
SAM sites and homing missiles both lock on to aircraft, and a big slow scrap heli is an easy target. It takes 11 SAM shots or 4 homing missiles to bring one down from full health.
The answer is flares. The November 2025 update gave the minicopter and the scrap heli a flare port. Hold E while looking at the fuel tank to open it, put flares in the single slot (up to 5 on vanilla servers), and the pilot fires them with right click, just like the attack helicopter. Throwing hand flares out of the side no longer works, so load the port before you take off.
Repair, Decay and Scrapping
Repair it by hitting it with a hammer (a salvaged hammer works too). A full repair from zero costs about 750 metal fragments, three times the 250 a minicopter needs, so do not let it burn down to nothing before you fix it.
Like every vehicle it decays when nobody uses it. Left outside it goes from full health to nothing in about 8 hours. Parked under a roof it takes about 48 hours, which is why groups build a covered heli pad or a big hangar next to their base.
When you are done with it you can turn it back into scrap. The magnet crane at the Junkyard can lift a bought helicopter into the shredder, which pays out 300 scrap for a scrap heli at full health, scaled down by how damaged it is. The minicopter pays 200.
Scrap Heli Tips
- Leave the pad straight away. The next aircraft purchase wipes everything on the Air Wolf pad, yours included.
- Bring fuel. The 100 starting fuel is about 3 minutes of flight. Carry a stack of low grade or buy some before you leave.
- Load flares first. Fill the flare port before any trip over bases or near the patrol heli‘s route.
- Land, then unload. Set it down flat and still before the team jumps out. A drifting heli on a slope can strand people or crush them.
- Pick the right aircraft. Solo or duo players get more from a minicopter for 750 scrap. The scrap heli earns its price when you actually need to move four or more people.
- Park it inside. 48 hours of decay instead of 8 is the difference between a heli you keep for the wipe and one you lose overnight.
Every vehicle disappears at the force wipe along with the rest of the map. Check when the next Rust force wipe is before you spend 1,250 scrap late in a wipe.
Scrap Transport Helicopter Rust FAQ
How much is the scrap transport helicopter in Rust?
1,250 scrap at the base price from the Air Wolf vendor at Bandit Camp. Dynamic vendor pricing can push it higher when lots of players have bought aircraft recently.
Where do you get a scrap heli in Rust?
Buy it from the Air Wolf vendor at Bandit Camp. Scrap helis stopped spawning around the map when Air Wolf was added in June 2020, so on vanilla servers buying one is the only way.
How many people can fit in a scrap heli?
Two sit in the cockpit, the pilot and one passenger. About 12 more can stand comfortably in the open cargo bay, and players have squeezed in more than 20.
How much health does a scrap heli have?
1,000 HP, more than the minicopter (750) and the attack helicopter (850).
How long does a scrap heli fly on a full tank?
The tank holds 500 low grade fuel and burns 30 a minute, so about 16 minutes 40 seconds. The 100 fuel it comes with lasts about 3 minutes 20 seconds.
How many rockets does it take to destroy a scrap heli?
2 regular rockets, 5 HV rockets or 4 homing missiles. One C4 or 2 satchel charges also destroy it, and a SAM site needs 11 shots.
Does the scrap heli have flares?
Yes, since the November 2025 update. Hold E on the fuel tank to open the flare port, which holds up to 5 flares, and the pilot fires them with right click.
How much does it cost to repair a scrap heli?
About 750 metal fragments to repair it from zero to full with a hammer, three times the cost of a minicopter.
How long does a scrap heli take to decay?
About 8 hours from full health when left outside and about 48 hours when parked under a roof.