21 September 2007

Flight Simulator in Google Earth

I was listening to "Steve Wright in the Afternoon" on BBC Radio 2 this morning when I heard that hidden inside Google Earth is a secret Flight Simulator, which takes full advantage of Google’s extensive satellite imagery. It was placed there as an Easter egg by the Google Earth programmers.

For those of you who have never played Flight Simulator, who have never heard of Flight Simulator, or who could care a flying fig about Flight Simulator, ignore the rest of this Tutor Tip. Everyone else, put on your Snoopy cap and continue reading.

The Google Earth Flight Simulator comes with two aircraft options, a F16 Viper and the more manageable SR22 4 seater. Players have the option of commencing the game from their current location in Google Earth or can pick from a list of pre-determined runways, including: Christchurch (New Zealand), Frankfurt (Germany), Los Angeles International, and London Heathrow (my favourite).

In order to play the free Flight Simulator in Google Earth, you must have the most recent version of Google Earth (4.2). You can download it here. Once you have downloaded and installed Google Earth, you will be ready to activate Flight Simulator.

How to activate the secret Flight Simulator feature in Google Earth
After starting Google Earth, press Ctrl + Alt + A to enter the flight simulator mode. Once you have entered flight simulator mode for the first time, you can re-enter the mode by choosing Tools > Enter Flight Simulator. To leave flight simulator mode, click Exit Flight Simulator in the top right corner or press Ctrl + Alt + A.

Naviagtion
To fly, you need to read the list of keyboard shortcuts below, but you can also use a mouse or a joystick. To disable or enable mouse controls, left click. Once mouse controls are active, the pointer shape changes to a cross on your screen.

You can get a quick start by holding Page Up for a few seconds to increase to maximum thrust (the thrust guage is the left vertical bar of the lower-left set of gauges). Once you've accelerated to a sufficient velocity, use the arrow keys to lift off the runway. The keys are in reverse as one would expect with any flight simulator, so use the down arrow to take off. When you have gained enough altitude, stabalise the aircraft to a straight flight path. It can be rather tricky to get the hang of as the controls are quite sensitive.

Flight Simulator Keyboard Shortcuts