Microsoft Flight Simulator Finally Gets Its First Local Legends Plane, the Junkers JU-52

The aircraft was initially slated for a September 7 release, but it got pushed back to fix some issues. In fact, the Junkers JU-52 almost missed today’s launch as well, since Microsoft announced the plane will be released at 8 am PDT / 3 pm UTC, but the Junkers JU-52 was available for purchase until a few hours ago.

Microsoft has worked with Bernd Junkers, the grandson of the original designer, Hugo Junkers, and Deutsche-Lufthansa-Berlin Stiftung to accurately recreate the Junkers JU-52. The recreation process involved a scan of the entire plane with a high-resolution digital scanner.

Additionally, developers consulted with a Lufthansa pilot who actually flew one of the last surviving Junkers JU-52, the iconic D-AQUI, and the premier creator of this plane in the digital space, Oliver Moser.

Junkers JU-52 is just the first so-called “Local Legends” aircraft, a new series meant to celebrate the history of aviation, which will often coincide with World Updates. In this case, the German aircraft come to complement the recent World Update VI – Austria, Germany, and Switzerland.

More Local Legend planes will be introduced over the next few months, although it’s hard to tell what planes Microsoft will add to the game. Still, we know they will be chosen to fit the theme of the next content updates.

The JU-52 is a famous transport aircraft from 1930. Although it was initially developed with a single engine, it was mass-produced as a trimotor. It started as a civilian plane, but it was also used by the Nazi regime as a military transport aircraft and briefly as a medium bomber.

Surprisingly, the Junkers JU-52 was still in service with numerous military and civilian operators by the 1980s. Nowadays, only several aircraft have remained operational, which is why we believe choosing the JU-52 to be the first Local Legends plane in Microsoft Flight Simulator was a great idea.