A Pilot’s Blog
A blog about aviation, aviation news, and space.

From the folks at Google comes a very neat feature in the newest version of Google Earth. An impromptu flight simulator! It’s no MSFS, but it’s pretty cool just the same.

To access the hidden feature, open Google Earth and hit [Ctrl+Alt+A].

The Google Earth Flight Simulator comes with two aircraft options, a F16 Viper and the more manageable SR22 4 seater. Players have the option of commencing the game from their current location in Google Earth or can pick from a list of pre-determined runways.

UPDATE: If [Ctrl+Alt+A] doesn’t work for you, try [Ctrl+Windows Key+A]. Some folks I’ve talked to have to use the latter to get it to work.

I was playing Flight Simulator X last night, flying a 747 from Marana, AZ to Salt Lake City, UT. In the middle of the flight, I had to go do something else, so I ended the flight and returned to the main menu screen. Before closing the program, I wanted to check my logbook (FSX automatically logs your flights for you). When I tried to go to that page, FSX froze and I could not get back into it. So, I went into task manager and forced the process to exit. I didn’t think much more about it until I tried to open the game again today and found that the splash screen would come up, but that the startup would freeze at that point still taking up all the CPU.

After putting the install DVD in and running the repair option didn’t work, I was resigned to the fact that I would need to delete and re-install it. However, I came across this wonderful bit of advice on the Fly Away Forums. As it turns out my logbook had somehow gotten corrupted, and removing the file allowed FSX to startup normally and generate a new file.

So if you’re having a similar problem, first try removing or renaming your Logbook.BIN file, it just might work. It did for me!

Yesterday I went ahead and removed the installation of Flight Simulator 2004 on my computer, and stuck in the The first “X” DVD. The installation process was for the most part the same as previous versions, with random screen shots from inside the game popping up at intervals through the process, except that when it finished I had 15GB less hard drive space available!

Once installed, I started it up to play around with it. My first observation is that it takes much longer than FS 2004 to startup. Probably 20 or 30 seconds compared to 2004’s 5 or 10. This is coupled with task manager showing that it’s taking up nearly 600 of my 1024 megs of available RAM.

Game play is roughly the same as previous versions, I haven’t noticed any major differences aside from the new ground equipment available at airports (and, of course, multiple new aircraft). When you pull up at a gate, and open the cargo doors, a little conveyor truck will pull up, followed quickly by a luggage cart. There are also other ground vehicles that drive seemingly randomly around the airport.

My only complaint thus far is that I can’t get the new jetways to work! The help claims that if you use the CTRL+J keyboard command, you can attach/detach the jetways. However, when I do this, nothing happens. I know that I have the scenery settings correct because you have to set it to “Very Dense” or “Extremely Dense” to even get them to show up. I’ll keep working on it, and report back later if I have any luck.

Update: I think that the reason I can’t get the Jetways to work is because my graphics card won’t support it. Just lovely.

Thanks to my wonderful parents I now have a fresh, vacuum-sealed copy of Flight Simulator X: Deluxe Edition! I’ll hopefully have some time to get it installed soon and give it a try. A Merry Christmas to all!

As you may or may not have seen on TV, Microsoft has been advertising the release of Flight Simulator X, the latest version of their very popular flight simulation program. Though I haven’t seen this one on TV, it’s probably my favorite. Everything I have read about the new version points to one word: awesome. There will be over 21 new aircraft in “X”, from ultralights to the Boeing 747-400. It’s also apparent from the TV commercials that they’ve finally made realistic jet-bridges for the major airports. Thank you, Microsoft!

Here’s a snip from the GameSpy review:

There’s no denying that Flight Simulator X is going to be one of the best looking games the PC has ever seen, but it’s nice to see that Microsoft has done more than just slap a fresh coat of paint onto the series. From creating a deeply immersive world to providing more structured gameplay elements, they’ve done a lot to ensure that there will be something for everyone.

Official Site
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