"Hidden" Flight Sim in Google Earth

Ever since Google Earth unleashed its Google Sky feature, a number of hidden features started appearing all over the news. One of the most interesting ones is a flight simulator activated by a simple key press.

All you have to do is launch Google Earth (you can download the latest version here), and press Ctrl-Alt-A once you see the starter page. You can choose between two aircrafts: an F16 Viper fighter plane , or a four-seater Cirrus SR22 propeller plane. You can even start your flight from your current view, or select from a dozen international airports, including Frankfurt, Los Angeles, and Kingsford Smith International located in Sydney, Australia.

The flight controls are relatively simple, although there are a lot of them to remember. From the start page, you can click on the Help button to navigate to the keyboard shortcut page. For those of you that are anxious to get going, I have included them below. (Click on the graphic to enlarge).


It appears Google has kept the realism alive by rendering real-time landscape from actual satellite footage. This may not be a Microsoft Flight Simulator, but for a web-enabled application, this definitely is worth a look.