Got to hand it to the kids from Mountain View. Turns out the latest version of Google Earth contains an (undocumented) flight simulator.
Weekend posting may be light.
Update: OK, I guess. My standards for flight simulators tends to be a bit higher than for average folks, and in any case I never much got into PC-based flight emulation software. The developers seem to feel the need to make aircraft control twitchier than real machines, so you spend a great deal more time chasing wings level or even pitch attitude than you do in actual flight where the controls tend to be dampened both by aerodynamic forces, and – in modern machines – complex software algorithms.
One of the emulated aircraft in Google Earth was the F-16, which makes this even more ironic. You see the F-16, like the FA-18, uses flight control computers to help deliver both dynamic and static stability to what would otherwise by dynamically unstable airframes. The F-16 uses a force sensor on its sidestick controller, unlike the Hornet which uses a position sensor for its conventionally mounted flight control stick (although the rudders do use force sensors in the Hornet).
The long and the short of that is that if you roll an F-16 to the left by pressuring the sidestick, it will only continue to roll so long as there is stick pressure. Once you take the pressure off, the aircraft immediately stops rolling in whatever attitude it finds itself. In the FA-18, the control laws were designed to be more “familiar” to pilots trained in conventional, hydro-mechanically boosted flight controls. That means that some one banking sharply left first throws the stick to the left. When he approached his desired bank angle, he would actually place the stick right of center to stop the roll before finally returning it to center to maintain the angle of bank. Control input, counter-input, stasis.
A subtle distinction, one would think, until an FA-18 pilot of my acquaintance with over a thousand hours in the jet led his first two-ship of F-16s back into the overhead pattern at NAS Key West back in 1991. This particular plumber, whose name I shall not reveal but whose call sign rhymes with “Hex”, thought it would be cool to perform a max performance left hand break turn away from his wingman to join downwind. Max pressure left to start the turn resulted in a gratifyingly quick snap to the left. Unfortunately, the max pressure counter bank to the right not merely stopped the left hand turn at the desired angle, it quickly threw the jet into a partial right hand turn back into a startled wingman.
How cool was he at that moment?
Not so very.
Groom Lake, here I come.
/BeachBum
Say “hi” to Elvis.
Jes, the keystroke commands, they are quite sensitive in GE. But she is ‘cool’ nuntheless.
Lex, I’m not sure if the problem is the control gains or the lag in the system. Almost every PC-based game I’ve ever seen has delays large enough to seriously impede flying qualities.
The Ace Combat Series for the PS2 is the best, and funniest, Arcade* Flight sim that I know of, best looking too.
*Slightly, 99 missiles on a plane, unrealistic.
For something slightly different: Naval Ops: Warship Gunner, also PS2, lets you pilot a warship and pit it against other WW2 and up ships. British, German, American, Japanese Blueprints for ships are included but you can also build your own.
Also since I didn’t notice Lex saying something about Hollywoods latest patriotic* products, how about you compare Hollywood against the Game Industry on that score ? I just played the demo of World in Conflict (Warning, 1GB compressed zip file, needs a lot of time to begin to unpack) and it feels good to play the single US mission you’re allowed to get. Off-hand I also don’t recall any major title ever approaching the diatribe Hollywood gives off lately.
*It’s a patriotic movie in Retardistan.
PC based ones are always based on the assumption that you bought the simulation because you know what every button in the cockpit of the single plane the simulation covers does. If the designere are merciful they let you keybind these buttons to your keyboard. Mostly you can click them with your mouse while fly using the purpose built joystick. Mostly I kamikaze into something or* tie the virtual lowest altitude record.
*Well, usually “and”.
Flying with the mouse solves the control issues. Departed LAX, bounced at CRQ (more or lex, er…less, touched down between runway and taxiway, but hey, it was close), then down to NKX for the overhead to the right one. Nailed it, and made the turnoff with some aggressive braking. Not bragging, just sayin’ that with the mouse it’s a hoot!
If you’ve resisted sims give “IL2 Sturmovik – 1946″ a try. See my July 26 archived post “Your Mission For Today” for some screenshots (click name above to go there). Yes, you can fly Navy too, not just Russian, RAF, German and Japanese WW2 aircraft. Wildcat, Hellcat, Corsair, PBJ (B-25) carrier based or out of the jungle. Been flt siming since Apple ][+ days, tried ‘em all, and wrote an article for Pilot magazine back when– and for me this is the best. Only $30 from Amazon on CD.
Since you mention it, Tailspin, I let the boys at Combatsim know about the Egg. Those boys are serious flightsimmers and suprise, they play a lot of IL-2 (Pacific Fighters) They have their own Marine squadron of Corsairs, and fly often.
Look them up, good bunch of guys
Even with the mouse it’s a bit challenging! Not quite a flight sim, but more of a detail controlled POV Cam with a HUD.
Great find though!
If you’re serious about your flight sims, Aces High and Targetware should be on your list of things to check out. I know a few on the dev team at Targetware, and they are serious about their simulator.
Personally, it’s kind of nifty but none have ever been equal to riding along in a Cessna, let alone doing navigation for a crop-duster.
“Alright, there should be power lines at WOAH!”
— Max
[...] Coolest. Easter Egg. Ever. – Neptunus Lex – The unbearable lightness of Lex. Enjoy. Leutig, min of meer: een flight simulator in Google Earth. Niet vergeten keyboard layout op EN te zetten, anders werkt het niet. (tags: google, easteregg) [...]
Hmm, the 20 minutes or so my Dad’s friend let me fly his Grumman Widgeon (about twice as long as he wanted me to fly it, but that’s another story) impressed upon me what Bill Fife, who used to be a plane captain of a P2V told me about inertia about the roll axis. Sure enough, I twisted the yoke, and then had to catch the motion with opposite input to stop it at the right angle of bank. No adverse yaw to speak of, which was a good thing, seeing that the rudder bar (not pedals) was stowed somewhere out of the way
P.S. Pilot in Command had rudder pedals, and lever for bungee rudder bias in case of failure of wrong engine. On starboard side, I had, uh, mostly nuthin. I wondered about what I’d do if the old geezer had a heart attack while we were flying, decided to live or die with wheels up, widgeon’s landing gear being identical to F4F’s. That old guy danced a jig on the rudders while on the ground, let me tell you.
I decided that if the Owner became incapacited, a water alightment was too complicated, no rudder pedals on my side anyway, so slide her in on her flying boat bottom at the Beach Club Golf course, which is only two blocks from Naples Community Hospital, anyway.
Besides, with any luck at all, I could kill some golfers doing that.
Lex, you need to stop playing golf. It is an evil bad Yankee foreign thing.
Golf is not a “Yankee thing”. Check your history books. And I still hate golf.
While I’m here, I’ll just plug http://www.x-plane.com – the only desktop-based flight sim that matters. The ONLY desktop-based flight sim that qualifies sim hours for actual FAA certification.
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