This 1967 Bell 47G-3B-1 Is a Pop Culture Phenomenon and an ‘AircraftForSale’ Top Pick

Today’s Top Pick is a 1967 Bell 47G-3B-1.

Anyone old enough to remember M*A*S*H, a popular television show of the 1970s and ’80s, will recall the Bell 47 helicopters featured in the show’s opening credits.

The aircraft might have looked like fragile insects but reflected big advancements in aviation during the Korean War period in which the show was set. It is a classic machine with significance broad enough to have landed one in the collection of New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).

Like other landmark aircraft designs, from the Piper J-3 Cub to the Douglas DC-3, there are still quite a few Bell 47s in service, in part because newer models, while perhaps more advanced, never managed to completely eclipse it. The 47 still makes sense for certain missions ranging from agricultural work, in which the aircraft for sale here has some history, to personal transport and flight training.

There are few finer examples of the form following function than the Bell 47. This is especially clear to those fortunate enough to stand near the example that hangs prominently on a wall at MoMA. There is no attempt to hide its inner mechanical workings or improve its aesthetics with stylized body panels.

With the 47, what you see is what you get, and that works very well. 

This Bell 47 has 4,885 hours on the airframe and 815 hours on its Lycoming TVO-435 engine. The aircraft is equipped with dual controls, carries 57 gallons of fuel, and last received new paint and interior in 1980. The basic VFR panel includes a comm radio and traditional engine instruments.

Pilots who are training for a helicopter rating or looking for an economical personal or working aircraft with historical significance should consider this 1967 Bell 47G, which is available for $92,500 on AircraftForSale.

If you’re interested in financing, you can do so with FLYING Finance. Use their airplane loan calculator to calculate your estimated monthly payments. Or, to speak with an aviation finance specialist, visit flyingfinance.com.