World Update 16 is here bringing us an upgraded Caribbean region and it launches with the just revealed Bell 47J Ranger helicopter from iniBuilds. Let’s have a look at both as the world of Microsoft Flight Simulator continues to grow!

Time to head down to the Caribbean

It being winter here in the northern hemisphere makes all of this talk of the Caribbean make me want to buy some real plane tickets. In the meantime, we can head there virtually thanks to a bunch of updates to the region. Enhanced imagery, elevation mesh, and 104 points of interest combine with 7 bespoke airports to help fill out World Update 16.

There are also three discovery flights (Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, and San Juan, Puerto Rico), three new Landing Challenges (The Dominican Republic’s Gregorio Luperón International Airport, North Eleuthera Airport (MYEH) of The Bahamas, and Haiti’s Antoine-Simon Airport (MTCA)) and three new Bush Trips too.

As always, World Updates are free and are part of an update now available in the MSFS Marketplace. Read about the World Update here.

Bell 47J Ranger Local Legend

We have our first Local Legend Helicopter with the Bell 47J Ranger. Like many Local Legends, Microsoft and their partner for this one, iniBuilds, have elected to take us back into the history books and give us an aircraft that has historical significance. The Bell 47 series became a highly produced helicopter type that dates back to the earliest helicopter designs by Bell aviation.

The first helicopter type to be given a civil rating in the United States it was also the first presidential helicopter.

5,000 of several different models were built and flown. Reportedly many are still flying today, decades after their initial introduction. Seems a worthy Local Legend to me!

You can pick this up in the MSFS Marketplace for $14.99 USD.

Read the full release and see screenshots here.