In one of those random moments on the web, I ran across Marco’s Blog, writings about random events in the life of Marco Gallotta, a computer science major in Capetown. Somehow, Marco found a hidden feature in the new and improved Google Earth…The Flight Simulator. You can find Marco’s full blog here.
At first, the shortcut didn’t work for me. Then I realized my cursor was in the search bar by default. So, I clicked on the earth in the main window and hit Ctrl-Alt-A. Presto! The flight simulator appeared. Using the PageUp key to accelerate and the down arrow key to take off, my F16 was quickly in the air. Not being a good game player, my F16 was quickly crashed on the ground again, too!
What’s cool here is that you are flying over Google Earth. Images of moutains and trees, houses and roads pass below you as you blast your way through the sky.
I know many of our DEN members will find useful educational uses for this hidden tool. Students can calculate thrust needed to lift their craft from the ground, experience what Mach 1 looks like, and more. For now, this is just a cool tool for me to play around on.
So what’s next, the Google Space Shuttle? Let me know what you think about this cool, hidden tool.