I already talked about the Fire Raptor, which is in contention for the best thing in the book. Now we look at the other flyers and see how they fare.
Chaos Kharybdis Assault Claw
This is one of those things that might be really good, but you'd have to actually play one to find out and also, you probably won't. Unlike the Dreadclaw, this has an inertial guidance system, so you can land it right in front of your opponent's army and hit everything within 3+d3" with a S6 hit. It's a pretty big model, so that is potentially a lot of hits. Then it can boost away. After that, it has five S6 heavy 2 guns that can target independently, which isn't too bad, especially when it's zooming. I keep looking for the melta part of the melta ram, but it ain't got it.
It carries 20 Berserkers, and 20 Berserkers in your face is bad news, if like 700 points. Unfortunately, it isn't a dedicated transport, it's a relic vehicle and a heavy support choice, so it has steep competition. Despite the price tag, it just might be good because it has a very high chance of delivering 20 Berserkers to the enemy, and it can still fight once it does.
Of course, no one will ever know because you'd have to buy one, which is expensive, and there are so many obviously good choices in the HS slot.
Blight Drones
Two blasts hitting at the same time is always better than several hitting at different times because you get more hits from the attack since the models have yet to be removed, so if you can get a couple hits with a squadron of these using their maw cannons, you'll get some work done. With BS2, that's not likely to happen often, but hey!
As the maw cannons are not ordnance, you can fire the reapers as well, but you're less effective against armor. A couple of these in a squadron are probably an okay pick, though I wonder if blasts going way wide thanks to low BS isn't a major problem. They are a FA pick in both armies, and Hounds and Screamers are better for Daemons. Heldrakes and Spawn are stiff competition as well. This one gets a strong average!
Hell Blade
You'll probably pay the 15 points to get the 6 S7 rending shots. And you'll probably watch it crash and burn the turn after it comes into play, or sooner if you're playing Tau. Almost anyone can shoot it down with minimal effort. Still, it is nearly as effective as a Storm Talon with Skyhammers, but cheaper and flimsier, so it's a comparable pick.
For a dedicated AA choice, this isn't a bad use of 115 points, but you'd be far better off with the Fire Raptor, which is like three of these in one tidy package.
Hell Talon
The only thing in the game with dumb bombs. Back when I flew bombers, I could get a 2,000 lb concrete bomb within 10m of a target pretty much every time, which is good enough for most targets considering the blast from a 2,000 lb warhead. 500 pounders were more squirrely and would go well wide no matter what you did, so you would drop 10-20 of them in a line, but the Air Force hasn't dropped a dumb bomb in combat since the 90's, so it doesn't matter.
Unlike our bombs, the Baletalon shatter charge doesn't have a blast, which is quite an achievement. How do you snapshot on a bombing run anyway? The rules don't support it. Do you just hit on a 6? I assume they intended for you to have a 50/50 chance of inflicting a S8 hit on whatever you pass over since it's Heavy 3, but you're not going to take it. None of the bombs really blows me away (get it?) but I guess the alchem cluster bombs that are barrage 3, poisoned would be my pick.
With AV10 and 4 HP, it's still going to die fast, and it costs an awful lot for something that will die fast, but if you can position it right, it might survive a turn or two. I wouldn't pick this one.
Chaos Storm Eagle
The trouble is you have to go into hover mode to drop off your 20 Berserkers, and if you do, you're going to lose your flyer because unlike the Kharybdis with its 5 HP, this one has 4, which makes a difference. Also, the Kharybdis comes on 1st turn. As a gun platform, it's inferior to the Fire Raptor. I used to think I'd swap the heavy bolter for a multi-melta, but looking at its loadout with the vengeance launcher, it might be better to go all out on the anti-infantry and take the Balefire missiles. That way you can shoot four large blasts plus a heavy bolter at a target when you come on, and then unload the same on the second turn when you go into hover mode and unload.
Then again, since weapons fire separately now, firing four large blasts at a target ain't what it used to be, so you're losing potential wounds each time an attack is resolved. Yeah, I guess this thing is kinda meh compared to the other picks.
Chaos Thunderhawk Gunship
This did not make Reece's list of approved shitty super heavies. I'll review it in case that changes, I guess. You would need to have reserve control to make sure this comes on turn 2 because you can't have 700 points, plus whatever it's carrying off the table for half the game.
As a super heavy, it can fire its hellstrikes without penalty, which is nice. You probably want to buy the apocalyptic barrage 6 bombs because it doesn't have enough punch for its points otherwise. The Destroyer blast is a judgment call. With its speed, transport capacity and many, many weapons, it's probably very strong if you can make sure it comes on turn 2 as it can cause quite a lot of hurt to several targets in a turn and is pretty tough to bring down, if not impossible for several armies. But it ain't allowed at LVO, and I ain't buying one to find out!