Some aircraft you anticipate. Some you obsess over. The MBB Bo 105 from Stratoware and Miltech Simulations was firmly in the second category for a lot of us, and as of May 22nd, the waiting is officially over. It’s out for MSFS 2024, and it’s one of the most complete rotorcraft packages the platform has ever seen.
A helicopter that earned its legend
If you don’t know the Bo 105 by name, you know it by reputation. This is the helicopter that does loops. Rolls. The kind of aerobatics that make fixed-wing pilots do a double take, all thanks to a rigid rotor head that gives it a degree of agility most helicopters simply don’t have. West German engineering, decades of service across military, medical, police, and broadcast roles worldwide, and a flying reputation that borders on mythical. Bringing it into MSFS 2024 properly was never going to be a quick job — and it wasn’t.
First announced back in January, the project originally aimed for a Q1 2026 release. That date came and went, as these things do. But here’s the thing about a deadline that slips: sometimes it slips because the team actually cared more about getting it right than getting it out the door. That appears to be exactly what happened here.
What you’re actually getting
This isn’t a single-variant release with a paint job slapped on for variety. We’re talking 13 distinct variants — medical, military ATGM, an aerobatic version with a working smoke system, a broadcast helicopter with a functional FLIR camera, police configuration with a searchlight, mountain rescue with a hoist, float-equipped, snow-shoe-equipped, tall-skid versions, and more. Add over 50 liveries and a dedicated Teufelsgraben, Germany scenery, and you’ve got a package that treats the Bo 105 less like one helicopter and more like an entire career’s worth of missions.
The details underneath are where it gets genuinely interesting for the flight-model nerds among us. Stratoware built this in collaboration with a real-world Bo 105 pilot, and validated it with experienced simmers along the way — not just theory, but actual stick-time feedback baked into the development. The sound design comes courtesy of Echo 19, who recorded a real Bo 105 (registration N8809W) to build the audio package, so what you’re hearing in the cockpit isn’t synthesized guesswork. Systems and gauges are modeled from real manuals, there’s a PMS50 GTN750 GPS integrated into the panel, and it even hooks into Miltech’s Mission Hub for objective-based flying — with Career Mode compatibility if you’re grabbing it through the MSFS Marketplace.
Is it worth it?
At $32.99, for a helicopter this deep, with this much variant coverage and this level of care in the flight model and sound, it’s hard to argue otherwise. The Bo 105 was never going to be an easy aircraft to do justice to. Stratoware and Miltech didn’t just do it justice — they built something the rotorhead community is going to be flying, and fighting playfully over hover technique for, for a long time to come.
Go fly it. Then try the loop. Carefully.