Say you want to fly from Berlin to Geneva. You will have to establish two things.

1. Starting point coordinates, or starting point object.

The coordinates of the exact spot your cursor (little hand) is pointing are displayed at the bottom. This is only needed if you aren't starting from a city. If you are starting at a city, the city itself can be listed as the starting point.

2. Heading in degrees. 

This is a bit more tricky, although not difficult. First, simply type in "Berlin to Geneva" (or wherever you want to go) into the search bar. This will give you a path ON A ROAD.

(Obviously this can be followed but is not always preferable because of twists and turns, and can be impractical for new pilots.)

You will want to select the "ruler" tool from the top tool bar. The tool is marked as a ruler (Duh). With both the destination and the starting point visible from wherever your camera is, left click the starting point and the destination (IN THAT ORDER!!!) and a line will be created. Once this is done a box should appear with Map length, Ground length, and MOST IMPORTANTLY your heading, which is displayed in degrees. This line can be followed if you want, but this is horrendously distracting and makes the trip feel even more planned than it already is. It is best to click "clear".

52* 29' 38.38" N., 13* 27' 19.28" E (That's in Berlin, if you're curious.)

If that website is blocked, you Google "Google Earth flight simulator keyboard controls - Earth Help" you will see a little green arrow next to the words "Use the flight simulator" click on that arrow and then click on the word "cached". This will open a text only version of the page giving you the controls and some other information. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask, but please consult that page first. If you know the controls but want to learn to do more advanced things, ask on this page and you will be answered appropriately.

Some things you will want to remember that are essential to flying effectively in this program:

1. Roll, Yaw, Pitch, and Speed stay in the same place when you stop pressing the button. Which means, for instance, if you roll left and try to level out manually, there is an almost 100% chance that when you're done with the maneuver, your ailerons will still be effecting your aircraft. This is because the wings aren't symmetrical, which means that you will still be rolling left or right. The same goes for Yaw. Both can be automatically set to 0 by simply pressing either the "C" or "5" keys. The best method for stopping a roll is to wait for the aircraft to be nearly level then pressing one of the leveling keys, which should allow it to come to a stop near level. If its slightly off, simply roll ever so slightly toward level and press the key again adjusting your timing based on the speed of your roll. Do this until your aircraft is level. This is by far the most important fix I can give you because uncontrolled rolls are the easiest mistake to make as a beginner. 

2. It's sometimes best to avoid using your elevators for pitch (up and down arrows without shift key) because its control surfaces, like those of roll and yaw, will stay as you left them when you used them. Instead of using the elevators to control your pitch, it is best to use trim, which in the real world is a small control surface built into the elevators that allows small adjustment to be made. Using trim is a much more precise way of adjusting pitch. Using trim is easy, instead of pressing the up or down key alone, add the shift key into either. Just the same as usual, the up key+shift pushes the nose down, and the down key+shift brings it up.

3. Avoid using the cursor pad on the laptop. Controlling the aircraft with the cursor is meant to be done ONLY if you have a mouse, in which case it is considerably less difficult. Without a mouse, controlling with the cursor is impractical and comparably hard to manage. With or without a mouse, your most dependable reliable way to control your aircraft is your keyboard.

Please consult the help page by following the instructions listed at the top of this post before asking questions about basic flight or controls. If your question isn't answered there or by the information located toward the bottom of the page, then do not hesitate to ask.

1. Air speed indicator in Nautical miles per hour.

2. Heading Indicator

3. Attitude indicator. (roll)

4. Rate of climb/descent (This is in feet per minute. If the number is positive, you are climbing. If it is negative, you are descending.)

5. Exit button (Esc key can also be used)

6. Throttle (changed using Page up and Page down keys)

7. Yaw (rudder position)

8. Roll (Aileron position)

9. Pitch (elevators)

10. Landing Gear and Flaps Status *Note: Landing Gear status is not shown in the SR-22 because it's landing gears cannot be retracted and are always down.

11. Attitude indicator (pitch)

12. Altimeter in feet above sea level. *Note: For this reason your altimeter should not be solely relied on to maintain a safe altitude. Mt. Everest is almost 30,000 feet ASL (above sea level). This means that when your altimeter reads 25,000 feet ASL, and you stray into the Himalayas, you will crash into the ground. The same applies in all other terrains, specifically mountain ranges. Ground elevation can be found at the bottom right and is listed as "elevation". Note that this reading is actually the elevation of whatever your attitude indicator (11) is pointing at, so that you can gauge the height of terrain.

Mathematics 

Calculating and following a heading, in the program, as well as in the real world requires a certain level of mathematical understanding. Although it is possible to easily find a heading using the tool's software, a good assignment would be calculating a heading and flight path using a radian circle and a destination. In addition to that, measuring the stall speeds at different altitudes of different aircraft could be an interesting and simple statistics assignment. Both assignments could be done both individually and in a group, making it a valuable teaching method for teaching subjects that involve a lot of team dynamics. 

Using Google Earth's "Historical Imagery" feature, it is possible to view a huge number of historically important locations as they were as far back as the first photos from the air were available. I've found photos from as far back as 1912. This tool could also be used to view historic battlefield or other significant sites from the air both as they were and as they are now. Using this tool, it is possible to see a location with a sufficient amount of pictures, especially a city, grow and change with time. This can be done both in and out of flight.

The potential in this area is enormous. This tool has detailed and accurate images, often in 3D, of every place on earth. What better way to learn about the Himalayas or the Horn of Africa than to see them from the air and interact with the landscape and geographic features? Few tools at our disposal offer the same level of immersion and educational depth as Google Earth's flight simulator when it comes to Geography. Google Earth possesses such a wealth of geographic data that can be viewed and interacted with in a very unique and interesting way. It is truly the perfect tool for the hands on learner, and has the potential to interest and even captivate a student who otherwise might remain uninterested, inattentive, and indifferent to a class or a topic.

Google Earth's flight simulator allows students to explore foreign countries and see for themselves what their homes, towns, cities, and entire counties are like. As well as being able to view foreign countries as they are now and using the aforementioned "Historical Imagery" feature, as they were at various points in their history. In the subject of foreign language, it can be valuable simply seeing the names of cities and streets in the target language. As a group the students could be assigned to accomplish a goal in the aircraft using only the target language. The language of the flight simulator itself can also be changed into a host of language allowing for lingual flexibility. Simply translating and identifying other countries by their target language name can be a useful lesson.

This field of study is perhaps the most relevant. Allowing students of aviation to really get a feel for how a plane will react to input and changes in altitude and attitude. As a Cadet educator of Aerospace for the United States Air Force Auxiliary, I can personally speak for Google Earth's flight simulator as an effective and extremely useful part of getting students to learn the basics before actually taking a real world aircraft into the air. This flight simulator is a good option for educators of a large class because it is not only effective even when compared to expensive flight simulation software or even a standalone simulator, but it is also free to use. Although it is perhaps not as true to life as a standalone flight simulator with highly advanced simulation software, it is an effective tool that requires very little investment to get a great deal of reward.

This tool can be used in general science education because an aircraft's basic function and many of it's instruments rely on some basic topics covered in general science. Perhaps the best example has to do with the way the aircraft's control surfaces and instruments interact with the atmosphere in different conditions. An educator might assign students to fly the simulated aircraft and try altering different control surfaces and predict what the aircraft will do based on their knowledge of air pressure and gas dynamics, a lesson often seen by students as uninteresting.

1. Complete initial development of this page. - Before Thursday December 4th. - Complete

2. Get German 4 using this page and GEFS in an educational, and productive way. - Before winter break. - Complete

3. Get Clay City's German Club members actively doing the same. - After winter break. - In progress.

4. Pitch this idea to Clay City's different departments and see if they are willing to implement it in any of the suggested ways. - In progress

5. Meet with the CCS board. - Scheduled.

Canyon Poe - Creator, Project Director.

Clay City High School Executive Branch:

Brandon Weik - Aerospace Administrator

Sam Pickens - Flight Ops Administrator

Austen Havens - Technical Administrator

John Stultz - Special Projects Manager

North View High School Team:

Christopher James Glock - Branch Director

Zakk Hood - Technical Administrator

Gaidj Evans - Flight Administrator

Special thanks to,

Silvia Weir - For being the first educator at Clay City to use Google Earth Flight Simulator, and this site, in her class, and for working with me to meet the goals of this project.

German 4, 6th period class - For participating in the first multi-participant test flight which served to identify areas in which our tools and methods can improve. And for being patient with technical difficulties.

Jennifer Ross - For showing early interest in the project and encouraging its growth.

Bradi Oberholtzer - For allowing the page to exist as it is and be used on school provided computers, and for assisting with technical problems during the first test flight. Providing continued technical assistance.

Jeff Bell - For setting up the meeting with the school board to present our work, and demonstrate the projects potential.

Clay Community Schools Board of Trustees - For letting us present out project to you and giving us positive feedback.

http://padlet.com/Aeroflights/Q-A

Thanks again, 

Canyon Poe - Project Director

The ailerons are used to control roll. In GEFS this is done using the left and right arrow keys. When one aileron is raised, the other is lowered. The air pressure difference causes one wing to be forced up, and the other down, causing the aircraft to roll on its longitudinal axis.

The elevator is used to control pitch. Pitch is moving the aircraft's nose up or down along the lateral axis. In GEFS this is done using the up and down arrow keys. This works by changing the direction of air flow around the horizontal stabilizer. When the elevator is facing down, the area of high air pressure is at the bottom of the aircraft's tail pushing up. This causes the tail to raise thus lowering the nose. The opposite is true when the elevator is facing up. The area of high pressure is at the top of the tail pushing down, thus raising the nose.

The rudder, which is mounted to the vertical fin (more commonly known as the vertical stabilizer), controls your yaw. Yaw is moving the nose left or right on the vertical axis. This is done in GEFS by using Shift+right or left arrow keys. Like roll, this can be set back to zero to stop a turn by pressing "5" or "C". This is the most precise method of making a turn. This works by creating a pocket of high pressure on either side of the tail, pushing it left or right.

Please check out our Question/Answer page

http://padlet.com/Aeroflights/Q-A

Thank you,

Canyon Poe - Project Director

http://padlet.com/Aeroflights/Hanger1 - SR-22 Training program

http://padlet.com/Aeroflights/Hanger2 - F-16 Training program

http://padlet.com/Aeroflights/Hanger3 - SR-22 Pilot hanger 

http://padlet.com/Aeroflights/Hanger4 - F-16 Pilot hanger

http://padlet.com/Aeroflights/jointheteam - Help us improve and grow