Vertol vs Helicopter

[RogerBW]

Originally Posted by thrash

So there's some justification in creating a new category and using it for Harriers as well (but not Cyberpunk's AV-4, which doesn't have wings).

Except that a Harrier when it's not hovering flies just like any other fixed-wing single-engine subsonic jet fighter - the only difference is that you have VIFFing available, and that's surely a familiarity, not a whole separate skill.

In the Travelleresque space trader game I ran under hybrid 3/4e (pre Ultra-Tech, never mind Spaceships, with full Vehicles writeups for the spacecraft), I - incorrectly per RAW - required multiple pilot skills for different modes of flight on the same vehicle: High-Performance Spacecraft for manoeuvres in orbit, Aerospace for re-entry, Vertol for vertical landing/takeoff. I still think there's something to be said for that as a design philosophy.