Nitro-booster

"Moonshine for your engine, coming soon from Boeing Aircraft! Nitro-booster injects nitroglycerine into the engine fuel feed, giving the engine an extra kick and sending RPMs through the roof. Nitro-boosters can cause excessive speed damage when using nitro-boosters for prolonged periods of time. Typical boost in speed is an extra 100 m.p.h. The plane can stay at this maximum for up to 2 sec."

—Description of the nitro-booster

The Nitro-booster was a development heralded by Hughes Aviation and Boeing Aircraft Corporation utilizing an unwilling Dr. Wilhelm Fassenbiender to give aircraft a temporary large speed boost at the pilot's discretion. Nathan Zachary, after rescuing Fassenbiender from the USSR airship Worker's Voyage, learnt from the doctor that he had been working on a new top secret aircraft for Boeing that was capable of tremendous speeds. His interest piqued, Zachary decided to commence a raid on Boeing Field and capture the prototype aircraft after rescuing the Dr's daughter Ilsa Fassenbiender. Capturing a Hughes Bloodhawk the Blue Streak with the experimental Allison engine, Zachary shot down the other Bloodhawk that had taken off to pursue him before docking the Blue Streak at the Pandora. With Dr. Fassenbiender on board, he was able to adapt the nitro-booster for use on all Fortune Hunter aircraft in the future.

Usage

"BOOSTED THRUST: Average 100 m.p.h.
BOOSTED TOP-SPEED LIMITER: 400 m.p.h top speed recommended.
BOOSTED ACCELERATION: Amount of acceleration added to engine averages to triple normal acceleration!
NITRO RESERVOIR: Storage capacity (in units) of the nitro-booster's fuel source. Default is 50 units.
NITRO BURN RATE: Units/sec. consumed by the nitro-booster when in use. Default is 5 units/sec.
NITRO RECHARGE RATE: Units/sec. the nitro-booster recharges when not in use. Default is 1 unit/sec."

—From the nitro-booster description

The nitro-booster can be equipped to any aircraft when building a new plane after completing the mission The Pilfered Prototype, thanks to Dr. Fassenbiender. Nitro-boosted engines weigh and cost a lot more than their non-boosted counterparts, however they do provide several useful boosts to the aircraft they are equipped to. The major and most obvious boost is the addition of a nitro-boost which can be activated at any time when fully charged, which will greatly increase the speed of the aircraft. This boost is useful for traversing maps quickly, closing distances between objectives, or evading an enemy aircraft on your tail. The second boost is an increase in engine acceleration, allowing you to quickly adjust your speeds when performing numerous tasks, such as stunts, objectives in limited space (i.e. flying through hangars or rock formations), and remaining on the tail of a slower aircraft when attempting to shoot it down.

Notes

• Most aircraft are not rated for the high speeds provided by the nitro-booster, and so will shake violently for the duration of the boosted speed. This is visually an annoyance but more importantly it will make aiming rather difficult as fired shots will spread out far and wide. As such, attempting to dogfight or engage with an enemy is not advised while boosting.

Trivia

• Due to the speedometer on the HUD only having markings up to 300 m.p.h, when in a faster aircraft and nitro-boosting, the dial pointer will actually exceed the 300 marking and go into the blank left side of the speedometer.
• In the fastest aircraft in the game, notably the Curtiss-Wright J2 Fury and Hughes Aviation Bloodhawk, these aircraft when boosting can reach speeds well exceeding 400 m.p.h on a flat trajectory, leading to the needle approaching vertical again. In a steep dive, it is almost possible for the needle to read 0 m.p.h while boosting.
• When at extreme speeds, such as those in the aforementioned Fury and Bloodhawk, it is possible for the engine noise to glitch out and stop playing while boosting.