Whew. Beat it second time with about 1/100 fuel left. Never attempting this mission EVER again. Unlocking Zero's awesome third mission is worth it though.
also I gave up and came back to it after I had done flight school. Not sure if that actually helps or if it's just psychological, but I did it first or second time after that
I think flight school does make it easier because by then you'll actually be good at controlling a plane. The RC plane controls like **** and getting used to it isn't exactly easy.
If there is ever a mission like this in GTA V, I'm sue-ing Rockstar.
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Rock n' Roll and Glam Metal... It never died