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Fly around the world (Experimental)

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This product or feature is Experimental (pre-GA).<br>Pre-GA products and features might have limited support, and changes to pre-GA products and<br>features might not be compatible with other pre-GA versions. Pre-GA Offerings are covered by<br>the Google<br>Maps Platform Service Specific Terms. For more information, see the<br>launch stage descriptions.

Use keyboard shortcuts to explore the world in a flight simulator.

Flight simulator requirements

While the flight simulator is designed to provide an immersive flying<br>experience, the following limitations apply:

Web only: The flight simulator is only available on Google Earth on web.

Simplified flight physics: The flight simulator is designed for casual<br>exploration rather than high-fidelity aerodynamic training.

Dynamic loading: As you fly, 3D buildings and high-resolution imagery<br>stream in dynamically. Flying at extreme speeds or over low-bandwidth<br>connections may result in temporary loading delays.

Start a flight

To launch the flight simulator, do the following:

On your computer, open Google<br>Earth.

At the top of the home screen, click<br>Explore Earth .

Open the Tools menu in the top menu bar.

Select flight Flight simulator from<br>the menu.

Note: By default, the flight simulator displays the abstract basemap without<br>terrain. To view photorealistic satellite imagery, change the basemap type from<br>Map to Satellite .<br>Flight controls and navigation

Use the following keyboard shortcuts to control your aircraft.

Action<br>Keyboard control<br>Description

Increase thrust<br>Page up or click on-screen indicator<br>Accelerates the aircraft's engine speed

Decrease thrust<br>Page down or click on-screen indicator<br>Decelerates the aircraft's engine speed

Pitch down (dive)<br>Up arrow<br>Directs the nose of the plane downward to decrease altitude

Pitch up (climb)<br>Up arrow<br>Directs the nose of the plane upward to gain altitude

Roll left (bank)<br>Left arrow<br>Banks the aircraft to the left

Roll right (bank)<br>Right arrow<br>Banks the aircraft to the right

Toggle mouse controls<br>Click inside simulation<br>Alternates between mouse-guided flight controls and keyboard controls

Crash recovery

If your aircraft makes direct impact with the ground terrain, the simulation<br>will pause. Click You crashed! Restart to instantly restore your aircraft<br>at a safe, playable altitude and coordinates.

Exit simulator

Click the arrow_back back arrow in the<br>upper-left corner of the flight simulator to safely exit the simulation and<br>return to the standard Google Earth map view.

Known issues

Terrain anomalies: When flying near ground level in regions below sea<br>level (for example, Badwater Basin in California), you may experience<br>occasional flashing or clipping.

Overlapping controls: Standard map shortcut keys (such as historical<br>imagery toggles) are deactivated during flight to avoid conflicting with<br>flight controls.

Send feedback

Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License, and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies. Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.

Last updated 2026-06-12 UTC.

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