Bloggers have discovered a secret flight simulator in the latest version of Google Earth…
Would it not be cool if you could fly around Google Earth in a jet!
“Google recently added Google Sky to its Google Earth application, we know. What we do not know is that the latest version (4.2 beta) of Google Earth also comes embedded with a hidden feature — a flight simulator of sorts.”
Search engine giant Google has apparently shipped its recently updated Google Earth application with a pretty functional flight simulator game sort of a thing.
“This version of the Google Earth application comes with Google Sky and enables the user to fly around cities virtually.”
The hidden flight simulator has been discovered by a South African computer science student Marco who broke the news to the delight of the Internet community.
“All-in-all I think it is a great feature Google has added to one of their top products,” wrote Marco.
Whilst it lacks the sophistication of Microsoft Flight Simulator, the hidden feature allows users to fly over the Google Earth landscape, complete with in-depth satellite photography of the ground below.
“I still remember the days when Microsoft Flight Simulator was considered so cool and that you had to pay for! With a bit more work this has lots of potential to greatly surpass other flight simulators.”
Mashable’s Pete Cashmore described the secret flight simulator as the “best Easter egg ever!”
The hidden feature can be activated using a keyboard shortcut [Ctrl + Alt + A (Command + Option + A on the Mac)] for the first time. After that the feature is turned on in the menus of the Google Earth application.
Once the feature is turned-on in Google Earth menus, players have a choice of two aircraft: a nippy F16 “Viper” or the more cumbersome, SR22 propeller airplane. Both take a little getting used to, although the F16 is the obvious choice for those looking to fly over their hometown in a hurry.
Users can choose to start their flight from a selection of airports, including London Heathrow and, perhaps surprisingly, New York, while the Kathmandu runway is the default option.
The aircraft can be controlled using the keyboard or a mouse. Even the joysticks are supported! Getting the hang of controls is a bit tricky however once the plane is stabilized, users can get a nice view of say the Himalayas out on the horizon. While the flight simulator is quite simple, the real imagery makes for a very cool visual experience.
And while the simulator has airports covered fairly well, the aircraft selection seems in want of an overhaul. Besides, the simulator does not afford any view whatsoever of the aircraft.
This is pretty amazing as the feature enables the user to surf around with the environment being updated on the spot from the Google servers. This is practically having a fully functional game within the application.
Full controls for the flight simulator can be found at: http://earth.google.com/intl/en/userguide/v4/flightsim/index.htm, and it is well worth consulting these before blundering into a test flight, and plummeting into the city below before you could shout “increase thrust!”
Despite the general perception that this is something completely new, this flight simulator appears to be an improvement of the flight simulator mode that appeared in Google Earth (version 4.0) last year.
Google Earth can be downloaded free of charge at: http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html.