*Checked on 21 October 2026 against Update 6.0 (build 0.10.0.653173), for The Last Caretaker. Forum dates are UTC. Much of the silo and fuel advice below was posted before Update 6.0; each item says when. Posts marked beta come from the Update 6.0 public beta.

Short answer. The gyro will not start until a petrol engine cylinder is fitted on its tail and it has petrol in it [S7][S12]. There is no start button; throttle up [S13]. Update 6 changed the handling, and two Update 6 videos show the gyro hovering on its own [S25][S26]. Channel37 says cold temperatures affect the rotors [S6]; players in the cold say it needs a warm heater to take off [S31].

Getting the gyro

Update 4 "Added the Salvage Gyro vehicle and related quests." [S1] Channel37 describes it as "a new light utility aircraft built for reaching high platforms, deep pits, service towers, and isolated locations" [S2]. The Gyro Service Towers hold "lost gyro blueprints, tools, parts, and field-service equipment" [S2]; per Neoseeker, the Lost Blueprints quest "triggers when visiting any of the service tower locations" [S7].

Neoseeker puts it under "the 14th tree level" for "3 skill points" [S7]; a StormkilGaming video (Update 4 beta) at [2:56] also says level 14 [S9], and Zephir001 (13 May 2026) lists it as "(3Pkt.)" [S10]. Update 5.0 "Updated various quest rewards, skill unlocks, progression requirements" without naming the gyro [S3], so check your own skill tree.

Why it won't start

Fit the engine cylinder. Players keep asking why the gyro will not start, and some say the quest leaves this step out. Neoseeker: "The Gyro won't start without it." [S7] [UA]Ramiel (15 May 2026): "You need to craft and install petrol engine cylinder. Same that goes on a jetski." [S11] GundamP_02 (13 May 2026): "They forget to put that as part of the quest." [S12] It still catches at least one player in Update 6.0: Grumpy-Granddad (20 October 2026) wrote "Got the super booster mounted and it flys" [S13].

Where it goes. The fabricator has it under Module/Engine Booster; it attaches "directly behind the pilot seat" [S7]. Briegel_Busch (15 May 2026) gave the precise version: "jump onto the tail section, and drop the engine from your inventory. It should slot right into a small round opening ABOVE the (graphically only existing) engine." [S11]

Throttle down first. root.s (20 October 2026): "There is no button to start. Just throttle up and you'll fly. Throttle down before attaching the engine though or your gyro will go on an adventure without you." [S13] Its fuel is petrol, not diesel; Gecko-[GER] corrected the earlier reply the same day: "the gyro needs the petrol engines." [S13]

The keys are on screen. Cheesecake (15 May 2026): "The default controls appear in the lower left of the screen, if you didnt notice." [S11]

In North Bastion it may not lift at all; see the cold section below.

Fuel and range

  • Tank size. clpierson45 (9 May 2026): the gyro "only holds 400 liters of fuel" [S15]. xearox (13 May 2026): "it always takes forever to get the 400 liters into the gyro." [S16]
  • Backpack as an extra tank. Sgt DangerCow [1:02]: a "single petrol backpack can be used as an" external fuel tank, plugged into the gyro's inlet [S14]. GandilfZockt [6:36]-[6:46] says each fuel backpack shown holds 400 liters, enough to fill the whole gyro [S17].
  • Out of fuel over water? Let it ditch: "It will" float "and it won't suffer any crash" damage, then swap the backpack and carry on (Sgt DangerCow, video, [2:17]-[2:19]) [S14]. Marvin (16 May 2026): "it floats if you "land" on water and can even refuel it on water." [S19]
  • Throttle all the way down when you get off before refuelling (Sgt DangerCow, video, [2:29]-[2:31]) [S14].
  • Engine grade and fuel. Sgt DangerCow [0:51]: "These will trade speed" for fuel consumption depending on which cylinder you fit [S14].

Update 4 also "Reduced repair material requirements for the gyrocopter and jetski." and changed its "fuel consumption, and repair requirements" [S1]. No numbers were given.

What Update 6 changed

Official. "Improved gyrocopter handling, with better vertical control and steering, and it can now be turned off on water." [S5] Also fixed: "Fixed the character facing the wrong way when entering the gyrocopter." [S5] The cable and gate fixes are on the Transfer Gate page.

How it flies now. It hovers on its own. Ancient Hare [6:08]: "I'm not touching any buttons and you" just hover [S25]. ProRogueBear [12:36]: "It kind of hovers as a default." [S26] LvlLord (19 October 2026): "Height Control is now relative, so you tap up and it will only go up during that time" [S24]. !tingham (17 October 2026, beta): "control over altitude is way better. (before throttle was bound to altitude)" [S27].

What players dislike. rob77 (9 October 2026, first day of the Update 6.0 public beta) wrote: "they changed the throttle to return to center. so if you lower the throttle during landing it will go up to middle" position, overshooting the pad [S30]. Wasntme (14 October 2026, beta): "The automated level control makes it unresponsive." [S28] turvarya (13 October 2026, beta): "While I was able to get a constant speed of 220-230 km/h when flying between POIs, I now can get maybe 160 km/h." [S28] jauser2 (19 October 2026) had trouble descending: "I reduce the throttle but then too much and drop from the sky." [S24]

Keyboard or controller? Players split. captainzulu (13 October 2026, beta): "I play 100% controller and I prefer the flight controls from before the patch." [S28] Little Red One (16 October 2026, beta): "Over all I like the new controls a lot better. BTW I'm using the smallest engine." [S27] kayden darkmore (20 October 2026): "i really hope they add a toggle option in the menu for the old controls" [S29]. Channel37 has not replied in any of these threads.

Can't climb? In the beta thread of 16-17 October, Marvin (17 October 2026, beta): "I could climb to 350m holding space before it stopped ascending", then it dropped to about 280 m [S27]. Tr0nZ (17 October 2026, beta) gave a workaround: "start tapping the space. Each tap makes it climb a little higher.", each tap held about a second [S27]. Kuzako (16 October 2026, beta) wrote "Now I can't get any altitude to save my life." [S27] and on 17 October 2026 said rebuilding the gyro had not worked [S27] tech4monkies (17 October 2026, beta) turned off NVIDIA Reflex and Frame Generation and also turned the graphics down from Epic, and wrote "Maybe it's a fluke" [S27]. FMP (17 October 2026, beta) wrote "Scrapped it and remade it sorted it for me" [S27]. Each of these is one player.

Which engine. Advice conflicts. Durandian [0:59] tells new pilots "do not use the last version of the engine that you have" [S37]; Hairy eyeball (17 October 2026, beta): "use the middle grade engine. makes it easier to control." [S27]; snorkybits (6 July 2026): "i found it much easier to fly the Gyro using the top engine booster" [S39]. This is not engine advice: snorkybits (20 October 2026) proposed, as an option for the game, that the three booster engines map onto the three control versions, "Basic booster engine = update 6 version" and the other two lines of the post for the older versions [S29]. It is a feature suggestion to the developers.

Key bindings. Update 5.0 "Added option to change gyro key bindings." [S3] Mx Graal (17 October 2026, Update 6.0 public beta) still found the keys "hard wired to keyboard keys A.D.S and W" [S27].

Flying in the cold

Channel37: "Even the Gyrocopter is affected by extreme cold." and "Cold temperatures can affect rotor performance." [S6] Snow Dog (21 October 2026): "But it just won't take off even at full throttle." [S31] JHD (21 October 2026) wrote that when the small heater on your back "has a steam charge it makes the Gyro fly", and added "the charge is not infinite" [S31]. How to wear and charge it is on the cold and heating page.

What players found about its limits:

  • Strewth (16 October 2026, beta): "The Gyro took off, but as soon as it cooled down away from the radiator, it fell beck to the ice sheet." [S32]
  • Mynaeos [5:13]: even with the heater, "you move too quickly, the gyro can" still freeze [S33].
  • Hephaestus92 (21 October 2026) crossed from North Bastion on a gyro and then switched to a jet ski; the crossing itself is on the Transfer Gate page. They wrote that the cold is "really the only aspect that makes it impossible without the admin menu" [S34]. For the gyro stretch: "Easiest way to fly was full throttle and full forward tilt, riding along the ground at about 120kph." [S34] The same post notes "You can reuse the booster when you change vehicles." [S34]

Gyro Deck, pads and ladders

  • Gyro Deck (Update 5.0). "Added the Gyro Deck Boat Extension, a mobile landing pad for the Salvage Gyro." [S3] Its quest, A Place to Land, starts at Sanctuary 12 [S20]. Shadow (20 June 2026): "Go to sanctuary 12 and scan the blueprint. It is in the room where there is a recycler and a fabricator" [S21]. Hemli (23 June 2026) did not find the blueprint on the wall; Shadow (24 June 2026) answered "Yes, 5.0 public beta" and on 29 June 2026 added that content is placed "in a way that makes sense when you start a new game" [S21].
  • Deck won't place? A StormkilGaming video (Update 5 beta) [1:28]: "If you have extenders on the" back of your boat "or cables or anything" like that, it may not place [S22]. Thiesen (29 June 2026): "hop onto the water pump and look at the "railing" and move your mouse around untill the ghost Image turns green..." [S21]
  • Update 5.5 "New gyrocopter landing pads and Gyro Towers have been added." It also "Added kick-down ladders to gyro locations.", "Fixed several drop ladders near gyro pads not reaching the water." and "Fixed Gyro Tower I so it can be climbed as intended." [S4]
  • Gyro sinking into pads. Typhoid Mary (13 October 2026, Update 6.0 public beta): "The copter being swallowed by the environment is not a new issue. It has been around since v5.0." [S23] Their own case was a copter tethered at Exodus by the launch pad [S23]. In the same thread crholt1 (13 October 2026, beta) saw the gyrocopter "only showing rotor head thru the helipad on the boat" [S23].

The silos: Eternal Flame and Dead Breath

The Ugly Work quest (Recovery Grinder blueprints) starts by "heading to either silo" at the northern and southern ends of the map [S18]. Eternal Flame is the southern silo [S18].

Eternal Flame. Neoseeker: land on a ledge in front of a rounded doorway; no ladder leads there [S18]. In a StormkilGaming video (Update 5 beta) [0:49] the pilot says "There's no ladder to get in here" [S36]. After landing "you can drag the Gyro back a little so the blades aren't touching the wall" [S18]. Sgt DangerCow (Update 5 guide video) [4:38] describes another way: fly to the bottom, then parkour up the wall steps to the room [S35].

Dead Breath is easier. Neoseeker: "look for a rounded helipad platform" [S18]. Sgt DangerCow (Update 5 guide video) [4:50]: "you can land on the" secondary lower helipad, then run along the ledge to the ladder and climb down [S35].

Refuelling at the bottom. There is "a large petrol tank you can use to refuel down there" [S18]. It is slow. Zephir001 (15 May 2026) measured: "The tanks in the silos discharge 1 liter every 3.5 seconds. This means that 400 liters for the gyrocopter would take over 23 minutes." [S16] That figure is older than the current update and may have changed.

Repairs. Neoseeker suggests carrying copper, rubber and iron in the gyro's storage [S18]. Zephir001 (16 May 2026) could not free a stuck gyro, recycled it, and wrote "No parts appeared in my inventory." [S19]

Flying in and out (advice from before Update 6.0). turvarya (19 May 2026): "Just hold space and balance with W and S and don't touch the mouse" [S15]. The_Beastly_Machine (19 May 2026): keep the camera "pointed straight down" with the front at the top of the screen and use WASD for small corrections [S15]. MartyS (14 October 2026, Update 6.0 public beta): "I think it took me 6 attempts to get out of the northern silo." [S15] Briegel_Busch (12 May 2026) estimates "The shaft is over 100 meters deep, and the last small ledge is probably 70 meters down" [S16].

The jet ski uses the same petrol cylinder [S11]; it has no page of its own here.

Sources and version

Checked on 2026-10-21 against Update 6.0 (build 0.10.0.653173)