Microsoft and iniBuilds Bell 47J has the distinction of being the first Local Legend release from that features a helicopter. I couldn’t resist picking up the helicopter to see what it was all about and see how it measures up to some of the other helicopters I’ve tested in this series. Is it too simplified or does it offer a satisfying helicopter experience? Read on!

A bit of history

The Bell 47J traces its roots back to the first Bell helicopter to be ever produced – the Bell 30. Developed independently and then with Bell Aircraft, Arthur M. Young created the prototype for what would be the first commercial helicopter type. The Bell 30’s first flight in 1943 paved the way for all kinds of improvements that would ultimately lead to the Bell 47.

Bell 47 began production in 1946 and development continued through to 1974 when the last of the models was produced. The design changed substantially over the course of its history with early models featuring an exposed fuselage and small pilot area while the later Bell 47J that iniBuilds put together for us is a somewhat different looking aircraft with a fully clad fuselage and seating for 4 with a single pilot up front and a bench seat behind running the full width of the helicopter.

This later model featured a Lycoming VO-540-B1B 260 hp engine, a cruise speed of 79 knots and a maximum speed of 91 knots at sea level while service ceiling was 11,000 feet.

This specific model has the distinction of being the first helicopter used by a President of the United States with Dwight D. Eisenhower being ferried by a specially designated H-13J from the White House. Military designations included the UH-13J Sioux when in use with the USAF and the type was used by several other military, police, VIP transport, and with civilian agencies and private groups too.

Visuals and sounds

iniBuilds have consistently impressed me with the artistic work on various models and scenery and the Bell 47J mostly lives up to that. It is, as with most Microsoft released aircraft, a very clean airplane in presentation with little dirt or scratches so it takes on a kind of museum quality to it but that’s the style and its fine.

The details are great with the rotor mast having a good amount of detail and animation to it, the skis and pontoons are appropriately detailed, and the enclosed engine is still visible and highly detailed through the various vents on the side of the fuselage.

The interior is a reasonably simple affair with a giant bubble canopy offering almost entirely unrestricted forward views for the pilot and passengers. A pedestal on the left side of the pilot contains all of the buttons, switches, controls and gauges for the helicopter. Everything is there, everything seems to work as it should and its very nicely detailed.

The rear area is also nicely detailed with a old school bench seat and a seat texture that feels like the 1960s exploded onto my computer monitor.

Liveries include a white, blue and black, red and black, red and blue, and yellow scheme. Plus the usual MSFS and Xbox liveries.

The sounds are also pretty decent. Nothing outstanding here but the engine start-up sound is adequate and whup-whup-whup noise from the rotor feels very on brand (think M*A*S*H) and appropriate from any videos that I was able to watch of one. The engine noise is generally ok too but maybe a little subdued.

Systems and features

There’s not a whole lot of frills to this helicopter and that’s generally ok. An included mini-EFB gives you a few options to choose from including options for modern avionics or the basic old-school avionics package which essentially just removes a GPS and radio configuration.

The only other feature of the helicopter to speak of is the option between going with conventional skids or pontoons. The pontoons hurt what little performance the type has but they do let you land on water which can be quite a bit of fun.

A toggle switch on the pedestal or via the mini-EFB gives you an optional governor meaning you don’t need to be concerned all that much with engine RPM. When turned off you see the system drop RPMs the more you maneuver the the helicopter around. The stakes aren’t as high as you might see with a DCS helicopter but its still good to see that happening.

Flying the Bell 47J

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this helicopter for a couple of reasons. First, Microsoft Flight Simulator doesn’t have the best reputation (yet) for detailed helicopter flight and many Local Legend aircraft tend to be on the simpler side of things. Second, a couple of videos that emerged in the hours after its launch appeared to show very simplified flight modeling.

Turns out that it’s pretty good for the platform that it’s on. And that video showing off the simplified handling? They must have forgotten to turn off the helicopter assists which does make any helicopter very easy to handle indeed.

The Bell 47J is admittedly on the easier side to fly as its not overly powerful or twitchy. It hovers nicely but does demand constant attention to keep steady. The sim doesn’t really do translational lift fully yet (big improvements coming soon) but the transition to forward flight actually feels pretty good overall. It even takes a little while to settle down like helicopters in other sims. Like most MSFS aircraft, it does still feel a little more artificial than what you’ll find with helicopters in X-Plane and DCS World but its not bad either.

I do find that the aircraft balances a bit like a top with it always wanting to tip forward or back. Even trimming it out can be tricky. Not sure if that’s a quirk of the flight model, a quirk of the real thing, or something in between. Unless you have a specific cyclic control setup you’ll want to make use of the trim system to level things out when can lead to some pretty stable flight.

The Bell 47J is also on the slow side and even slower with the pontoons fitted. You want to keep your flights constrained to a smaller area or plan to be flying along for quite a while. This helicopter generally feeling like it was meant to do a little local scouting and sightseeing – such as I did flying over a few destinations in the Caribbean.

Final thoughts

Microsoft and iniBuild have produced their first helicopter for Microsoft Flight Simulator under the Local Legends branding and it lives up to the standard set by other aircraft in the series. It’s reasonably inexpensive, fun to fly, looks great, and it sounds pretty good overall. There isn’t a ton of extra value here but they did see fit to offer both conventional and pontoon options which is a nice bonus.

Like all MSFS helicopters, it does feel a little light and not quite as fluid as others in other sims, but on the other hand it does react quite nicely to wind and turbulence and generally flies as you’d expect a helicopter to fly. With the assists on it becomes a very easy to fly sightseeing machine which is absolutely ideal for the folks looking for something simple and fun to fly. For those looking at something more complex, you may want to have a look at FlyInside’s Bell 47G-2 for Microsoft Flight Simulator (and X-Plane) with its own custom flight model. I haven’t tested that yet but I know it has its fans.

If you want something fun, simple, and steeped in historical aviation legacy, the Bell 47J is a pretty good option. If you want more complex capabilities and mission sets, you’ll want to have a look at some other options out there. Microsoft are selling the helicopter for $14.99 USD on the Marketplace and for the money its a pretty decent add-on.

Screenshots