Yeah, I considered trying dying with the thing stored in the hangar, until I tried messing around with it DURING the mission earlier today. You know the armoured van that you have to pick up? Apparently it's lighter than the ones that you would normally see driving around. Because the sky crane struggles to lift anything heavier than a motorcycle. Seriously, you can't gain any height with it if you grab a regular car - it's impossible. They must have made that particular van a LOT lighter. Considering how much potential for fun that the game openly grants you, I'm surprised, and a bit disappointed, too. But I appreciate the replies. ^^
Just FYI, I'm currently playing the XBox version, but given the myriad of mods available for the PC, I'm very tempted to change over. San Andreas Multiplayer sounds too damn good to be true. I had no idea it existed!