It seems the lastest version of Google Earth has a surprise inside, one they haven’t highly publicized.

Both the Mac and PC versions of GE have a hidden flight simulator that is actually quite cool. It seems easy enough to navigate, and after a bit of practice I was flying around touring a few locations.

You can access the flight simulator by opening Google Earth and selecting Ctrl + Alt + A on a PC or  Cmd + Option + A on a Mac. The rest of the commands are available at the Flight Simulator Keyboard Control page.

You can choose between two different aircrafts (a fighter jet and a two seater prop) and are able to select any number of the worlds major airports from which to take off.

I showed this to a couple of teachers…it’s easy to see how one could actually use this in a classroom to expand upon a virtual tour to a site of interest.

tags: technology, education, google earth, whipple