Google Maps Flight Sim

August 5, 2006 3:40 AM

Google Maps flight simulator. Well, not a simulator so much. But surprisingly good fun. Flash.
posted by Jimbob (25 comments total)

Slick. I wish they had something like that for google earth, though.
posted by Paris Hilton at 3:48 AM on August 5, 2006

Meh... It would have been more fun if firing the plane's gun would actually let you blow things up.
posted by Watsonne at 3:58 AM on August 5, 2006

Paris: Google Earth has a built in mode that lets you fly around like a flight sim. The controls are somewhat quirky (it has a habit of suddenly going way too fast and then pinging you off into space) but it's kinda fun. Turn on "G-Force" navigation mode in the options, then right-click-and-drag to adjust your speed (you can fly backwards too), and left-click-and-drag to change direction.
posted by Mwongozi at 4:18 AM on August 5, 2006

much better than i expected.
posted by jimmy at 4:29 AM on August 5, 2006

Ha! I StumbledUpon this last night and thought about posting it, but went with the light pen instead. Glad it got seen. Wish I could fly that thing on Google Mars or Moon.
posted by absalom at 4:30 AM on August 5, 2006

If you start on London and need to find your bearings, turn round immediately and fly south to hit the river and then fly east. When the river bends northwards (toward the top of the screen) follow it and you'll find the houses of parliament and central London.
posted by nthdegx at 4:33 AM on August 5, 2006

I wonder how long it will take to fly from London to New York...
posted by fullerine at 4:42 AM on August 5, 2006

Hmm not possible it seems.
posted by fullerine at 4:44 AM on August 5, 2006

I hope the future builds include skywriting...
posted by Smart Dalek at 4:49 AM on August 5, 2006

Thanks nthdegx, I didn't have a clue where I was at first!

Merge this with the sprites from 1942 and you would not see me for days, really good fun.
posted by greycap at 5:15 AM on August 5, 2006

See also related YTMND [turn down sound]
posted by randomination at 6:02 AM on August 5, 2006 [1 favorite]

Not bad, although this thing's ceiling seems to be about 3000 feet. Would've liked to get up around angels fifteen so I could start figuring out where I am.
posted by pax digita at 6:59 AM on August 5, 2006

pax digita: yes a kind of minimap would be quite useful.
posted by nims at 7:22 AM on August 5, 2006

Sigh, back in 2000 I spent 12 hrs systematically ripping GlobeXplorer's tokyo imagery out of my Netscape cache, assembling a composite map, and building this app to fly over it. It has vertical scaling, and also z-rotates the tiles and keeps the plane moving 'forward' (which even though the perspective is sometimes off it still is a very cool flight experience).

I can say an actual flight sim with photorealistic detail, moving cars, etc would be an immensely entertaining experience.

I've used google earth as a flight sim (even though it is most certainly not), and have had tons of fun.
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 8:06 AM on August 5, 2006

G-force in google earth is better.
posted by wsg at 9:18 AM on August 5, 2006

I was trying to zoom in for closeups of central park and kept crashing. =P
posted by ZachsMind at 10:01 AM on August 5, 2006

sweet.
posted by tomplus2 at 10:13 AM on August 5, 2006

I found that the best use of this was strafing my apartment building and job, then crashing into the Capitol.
posted by borkingchikapa at 11:00 AM on August 5, 2006

Whoa, I flew West from NYC and NJ wasn't there. I've had dreams like that... (I'd miss my mom, though).

You can't go high enough, like people have said. And if you want to blow things up, you have to dive bomb them (you get a little battle damage, oooh). Fun for five minutes, thanks Jimbob!
posted by Eideteker at 11:34 AM on August 5, 2006

I crashed into the West Wing. Oops.
posted by jacquilynne at 12:09 PM on August 5, 2006

Well I like that you can't get up high, it means you have to buzz around a bit till you find a clue as to where you are. Otherwise, you might as well just play on Google Earth, no?
posted by Kiwi at 12:36 PM on August 5, 2006

I was hoping if I flew high enough, I'd start to pass clouds. That'd be cool.
posted by absalom at 1:27 PM on August 5, 2006

I was trying to zoom in for closeups of central park and kept crashing. =P

I was able to land. Just takes a soft touch.

Strange seeing nothing moving below; it's like I'm the Omega Man or something.
posted by kurumi at 1:58 PM on August 5, 2006

Wow, I didn't know about g-force in google earth. Reminds me of when we used to take the jet from Houston to Vail and I would get tipsy and demand to sit next to the pilot and pretend to fly.
posted by the ghost of Ken Lay at 2:32 PM on August 5, 2006

Haunt on, Ken Lay. Haunt on.
posted by rhizome23 at 8:12 PM on August 5, 2006