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Google's official guide is here. However I decided to create this guide because it wasn't really too helpful for me. I hope you will be helped more by this.
Knol now has a feature to read the text to you. After you read through the guide, you can play it and follow along in Google Earth if you would prefer a more hands-on approach. Most of the text should be read by Knol, but you should still read below by yourself in order to see the charts and pictures.
Knol now has a feature to read the text to you. After you read through the guide, you can play it and follow along in Google Earth if you would prefer a more hands-on approach. Most of the text should be read by Knol, but you should still read below by yourself in order to see the charts and pictures.
Part 1: Preliminaries
Starting Google Earth
1. Make sure you have the latest version of Google Earth. It can be downloaded from http://earth.google.com.2. Open Google Earth. Click on Tools>Enter Flight Simulator... If you don't see that option, then press Ctrl+Alt+A.
3. You should then see a window that looks like this:
Aircraft
Google Earth comes pre-loaded with two airplanes. They are the F16 and the SR22. To summarize the descriptions, the F16 is really fast and the SR22 is not so fast. The F16 is also harder to fly than the SR22. When we begin, we will start with the SR22.Starting Position
Google Earth comes with a few airports to choose from. If you don't see your local airport on the list, do not worry. It is possible to take off from any airport with the Google Earth Flight Sim. This will be covered later on.Part 2: HUD and Controls
HUD
We will now begin our first flight. To begin:1. Choose SR22 from the airplane choices.
2. Select an airport from the drop down list for airports.
3. Click Start Flight.
Google Earth will now position you at the beginning of the runway. Give it a few seconds while everything loads. In the mean time we will go over some of the HUD indicators.
This is the HUD or heads-up display. If you have a widescreen monitor, the top and bottom meters may be cut off. Until Google fixes this, there are two workarounds:
- Using the Alt or Control key and the up or down arrows, position it so that you can see the top or bottom as needed. You won't be able to see both the top and bottom at the same time though.
- Shrink the window to the form of a square. You will then be able to see both the top and bottom at the same time. The downside is that the experience will be less immersive since the desktop will show through the sides.
The HUD contains the various meters and controls you will need for flight. Let's go through each one:
Speed
| Takeoff | Landing | |
| SR22 | 80 | 100 |
| F16 | 260 | 280 |
The speeds in the above chart is the amount of knots it takes to take off or land a specific plane. To take off with the SR22, you need to be above 80 knots. To land with the SR22, you need to be below 100 knots. With the F16 you need to be above 260 to take off and below 280 to land. This will be explained more later on.
Smaller Meters
Compass
The Bank Angle and Altitude Indicator
Altimeter
When landing, the plane should be falling at less than 2,000 feet per minute. Landing faster than that increases the chances of crashing.
Don't worry if you can't remember the names of all of these meters. Most likely you won't need to and the rest will come to you as you are flying.
Controls
The official Google Earth help page lists all of the controls. On this page, only the controls needed for a basic flight will be listed. Chances are you won't need the rest. If you would still like them, they are here. These controls are also for the mouse control method. It is nearly impossible to use just the keyboard alone, and joysticks will not be covered due to the many varieties of them. Also note that the following controls are for the Windows/Linux version of Google Earth. The equivalents for the Mac are also on Google's official page.
| Increase Thrust |
Page Up |
| Decrease Thrust |
Page Down |
| Left Brake |
, (Comma) |
| Right Brake |
. (Period) |
| Elevator Push |
Up Button |
| Elevator Pull |
Down Button |
| Rudder Left |
Shift+Left Arrow |
| Rudder Right |
Shift+Right Arrow |
| Center Aileron and Rudder |
C |
| Extend or Retract Landing Gear |
G |
| Toggle HUD on/off |
H |
| Increase Flaps |
F |
| Decrease Flaps |
Shift+F |
| Rotate Viewpoint |
Ctrl+Arrows for fast or Alt+Arrows for slow |
The mouse is mainly what controls the steering. Moving it left and right controls the aileron and moving it up and down controls the elevator.
Once again, don't panic if you can't remember all of these. You will be shown when you need them step by step.
Part 3: Flying the SR22
Takeoff
You are now ready to take-off for the first time. Your SR22 should be waiting at the runway. Here is how to get your plane off the ground. If you need to steer the plane while on the ground, use the brakes. The left brake is , (comma) and the right brake is . (period).1. Check to see if your mouse pointer is shaped like a cross. If not, click somewhere on the screen. When the pointer is a cross, move it to the middle of the screen.
2. Press the Page Up button until the arrow is at the top of the throttle meter (bottom left corner of the screen).
3. Move the cross down to the bottom of the screen.
4. The plane should take off when it has picked up adequate speed (around 80 knots).
Congratulations, you should have successfully taken off.
Flying
Flying is fairly straightforward. Moving the mouse left and right moves the aileron left and right. Moving the mouse up and down pushes and pulls the elevator. To control the speed of the plane, use Page Up and Page Down. To turn, there are two ways. You can either move the mouse to the left or right (depending on the direction of the turn) and pull back a bit. Or if the turn is sharp, you can press Shift+Left Arrow orShift+Right Arrow to use the rudder to turn. The rudder is indicated in the bottom horizontal meter on the lower left corner of the screen. To move the rudder back to the middle, press the C button.
Landing
Landing is the hardest part of flying and takes practice. Do not worry if you cannot land on your first try. To land, you essentially have to be under 100 knots and falling under 2,000 feet per minute:
1. Approach a runway or a piece of flat land. To tilt the plane downward, move the pointer upwards.
2. Reduce speed by using Page Down until the throttle is at the lowest.3. Deploy the flaps by pressing the F button. Pace them out until the flaps are fully deployed (at 100%).
4. When you get near to the ground, move the pointer downwards to level out the plane (pull the plane upwards). Make sure the ailerons are centered.
5. Allow the plane to touch down.
6. When the plane touches down, apply the brakes by pressing , (comma) and . (period). The plane can be steered left and right using the brakes.
If the plane landed congratulations. If not, do not get discouraged, it is difficult to land the planes and it takes practice. Keep trying and do not give up. If the plane bounced during the landing, that means you were going a bit too fast. Next time try to slow up a bit more beforehand. Another tip is to avoid flying over the runway and then "falling" onto it. Try to fly onto the ground.
Part 4: Flying the F16
The Landing Gear
Flying the F16 is much harder than the SR22. You should be good at flying the SR22 before you attempt the F16. The controls for the F16 is similar to the SR22, however the F16 has a landing gear. The landing gear is controlled by the G button.
Takeoff
Taking off with the F16 is exactly the same as the SR22, however after you actually take off, you have to retract the landing gear by pressing G.
Flying
Flying the F16 is exactly the same as flying the SR22, except that turning is harder. You will need to make wider turns or use the rudder (Shift+Arrows and C to center it back.)
Landing
Landing the F16 is extremely difficult compared to the SR22. You may want to begin your slowdown and descent from a while back. The landing procedure is almost the same as the SR22, except that you need to retract out the landing gear by pressing G before you touch down. The F16 is picky with its speeds. It is not like the SR22 which is a bit more forgiving and bounces at higher landing speeds. The F16 will crash if you are going too fast. The optimal window for landing is between 190 and 250 knots; the slower the better. You can still land lower than 190 knots, but not higher than 280. In addition, the plane should be landing no faster than 2,000 feet per minute. With this as well, slower is better. Just remember to keep practicing.
Other Google Earth Features
There some more Google Earth features that can enhance your flight experience.
Take Off From Anywhere
Even though there is only a small list of takeoff locations, you can actually take off from anywhere. To do so:
1. Find the spot in Google Earth that you want to take off (this can be above or below water).
2. Zoom in as close as you can to it.
3. Using either the middle mouse button, right mouse button, or on-screen controls, straighten up so then you are horizontal with the land. It should look like the way it does when you are at the beginning of the runway.
4. Press Tools>Enter Flight Simulator.
5. Pick your plane.
6. Select current view from the Starting Position.
7. Begin your flight. You'll notice that you are now waiting on the ground in the plane.
8. Take off as normal.
If you find that you began in the air, that means you didn't pull close enough to the ground so Google Earth though you were in mid air.
If you want to begin while flying, position the plane in air from where you want to begin.
Fly At Night
It is possible to change the sunlight level to fly at other times of day besides daytime. To do this, click on the little picture of a sun on the toolbar at the top. A slider should appear showing time on it. Slide it to what time you would like it to be. The light on the ground and sky should reflect that.
Note:
If you are using Google Earth in DirectX mode, the sky will not change. You can still make it night by turning off the atmosphere in the View menu, but you will not be able to experience dawn and twilight, or see the actual sun. For those you must be in OpenGL mode. The mode can be changed either from the Options in Google Earth or the Start Menu in Windows.
Note:
If you are using Google Earth in DirectX mode, the sky will not change. You can still make it night by turning off the atmosphere in the View menu, but you will not be able to experience dawn and twilight, or see the actual sun. For those you must be in OpenGL mode. The mode can be changed either from the Options in Google Earth or the Start Menu in Windows.
Pins:
It can be hard to see the runways or airports from the sky. Even then, you would have to line up well in advance to land effectively. Pins can help you here. You can set a pin and the very beginning of a runway and then a bit before the runway. That way you can see the airport in advance and line up. Below is an example that I did:
That way during flight it will be possible to align with the airport during the approach.
Small lakes and local pieces of water may not have any depth to them. With these, you can land on them like a piece of flat land. The oceans and larger bodies of water will have depth to them. When you attempt to land on these, the plane will continue to fly under the surface of the water.
Underneath the surface of the water, the plane will fly similarly to above the surface of the water. It is possible to land and take off from beneath the water as well. In fact, fly under the water can be thought of as a submarine.
To use all bodies of water the way it was before, and actually land on top of it, simply uncheck the "Terrain" layer. This will make water flat again. A side effect is that mountains and other land features will also become flat.
Water
In the past, water in Google Earth was considered a flat piece of land. As a result, it was possible to land on top of water in the flight simulator. In the newer versions of Google Earth, it is now possible to go beneath the ocean and certain bodies of water. As a result, water is a bit different now.Small lakes and local pieces of water may not have any depth to them. With these, you can land on them like a piece of flat land. The oceans and larger bodies of water will have depth to them. When you attempt to land on these, the plane will continue to fly under the surface of the water.
Underneath the surface of the water, the plane will fly similarly to above the surface of the water. It is possible to land and take off from beneath the water as well. In fact, fly under the water can be thought of as a submarine.
To use all bodies of water the way it was before, and actually land on top of it, simply uncheck the "Terrain" layer. This will make water flat again. A side effect is that mountains and other land features will also become flat.
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