Google Earth has a built-in flight simulator that is hidden away, until you launch it the first time (or at least version 4.2 does). Once you've loaded the flight simulator, you can launch it again in the future using the same Ctrl-Alt-A keystroke combo or you can launch it from "Enter Flight Simulator" from the Tools menu.
If you hit the Ctrl-Alt-A keystroke combination from within the main application, you should be presented with the following window:
If you aren't seeing this pop-up, you may need to go into the Options | General | Language Settings menu and set it to English (or English (United States)) in order for this to work.
Anyway, once you choose your aircraft and a start position you are off and running. Choosing the SR22 might make life easier for you as it is a slower aircraft than the F16 however, regardless of which aircraft you choose, you will be presented with a HUD (Heads Up Display) like you would find in a modern fighter.
The keyboard controls are pretty tricky so if you have a joy stick or flight yoke, you might have a better time of it. Otherwise, you can find a list of keyboard shortcuts using the Help button on the launch screen shown at top (or use this link).
I cratered it in the first few times I flew it but succeeded in doing a loop in the virtual SR22, something that I would NEVER try in our real-life SR22. Give it a shot! If anyone out there has a better time flying it, please let me know using the comments below.
Tags: