Fly a flight simulator in Google Earth
Fri, Sep 7 '07 at 7:30AM PDT ? Submitted by greenarchipelago
I just read in a German online magazine that Google Earth contains a "hidden" yet complete flight simulator! Currently, two jets are available (F16 and SR22), and also the list of airports is not that long. Just open Google Earth (you'll need the newest version, 4.2), and then type Command-Option-A. A dialog will appear, asking you to pick your airplane, airport, and a few other things. (Once you've used this keyboard combo once, you can invoke the flight sim in the future via the Tools ? Enter Flight Simulator menu item. This entry will be missing, however, until you invoke the simulator once via the keyboard.)
Flying is rather tricky, as the Google team seems to have invested lots of efforts into the UI (joysticks are supported, for instance) so that the flight instruments are rather "mimosa-like". A test flight using a normal keyboard and mouse ended shortly after takeoff. Here's a list of flight sim commands in English or German.
[robg adds: I've tried this, and it does work, though I'm not sure it's the most accurate "flight" simulation. Joystick support on the Mac works; it saw my Saitek flightstick, even recognizing and using the trottle slider for engine control. In-flight dynamics, however, need some tuning. It is quite fun to zip across the landscape in this manner, though.]
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