1968 BELL 47G-3B-1

I think I can claim to be the only professional helicopter salesperson who can say they’ve flown a 47G-3B-1 for a living... and it doesn’t feel that long ago! In the late ’90s, eking out a living in the Australian outback, my friends and I cut our teeth doing tourism and charter work in Bell 47s and KH1 variants. We didn’t know any better, but these days, I doubt the youngsters would be fearless enough to fly such an analogue aircraft. As the genus of the species “helicopter,” the Bell 47 comes with no engine governor, no trim system, no SCAS, and certainly no air conditioning—and you don’t really need them, since I can’t recall ever flying one with the doors on, even in the rain. The Bell 47 builds the best helicopter pilots, with all your senses engaged and your brain and left hand constantly modulating the engine to keep rotor RPM in the green. Nothing, except perhaps a Brantly B2 (and who in their right mind would be seen in that?), will teach you more about flying helicopters and the intricate relationship between power available, RRPM, and airspeed than a Bell 47. You’ll learn to love the smell of AVGAS again, and later in life, a whiff of 100LL will bring back memories of trying to outrun trucks on the highway. A Bell 47 gives you more visibility than an F-16, and you can screw your neck around to inspect the stab bar and linkages while on the fly. The only negative is that your bald spot will remind you if you forget your hat in the truck. Flying a Bell 47 is a joy—it’s engaging, raw, and feels like REAL flying. It will make you a superb pilot, able to transition into any other aircraft with a solid understanding of what really makes helicopters work.