flying Google Earth

[judypilot]

First, apologies to those rare members who also lurk on the Cessna Pilots Association web forum. This is a duplicate of a thread I started there, but I wanted to share this with a wider audience.

I was finally more or less forcefully introduced to Google Earth a couple of months ago, and now I can't let it alone. I have found a great use for it. I've called up the airports data base, and rehearsed two flights. One was a flight from the Bay Area to El Monte airport in SoCal, which I'll be making next Tuesday. I was pretty sure I remembered most of the route, but I've never been into El Monte before, so it was helpful to come over the mountains from the north and just remind myself of the sight picture of the terrain along the way. When dodging the LA airspace, it will be helpful to know exactly where I'm going without having to rely completely on my GPS. It's realistic enough that I recognized the rest of the terrain from previous flights. I do this by using the tilt function and make sure that I'm "flying" at the same altitude I would use on a real flight. Just for the heck of it, I even flew the pattern at El Monte.

Similarly, I rehearsed a flight from Anchorage to Fairbanks. I've flown that route several times in airliners and driven the route once, and it was really interesting to "fly" the route at the altitude I would fly my plane; I could recognize some stuff from previous trips but get the sight picture I will actually have when I make the trip this summer. Given how realistic it turned out to be for SoCal, I will rehearse it a couple of times again.

For those who are coming to the GAUCPAGT over the Rockies, I would highly recommend this. You might not be so daunted by the challenging route I'll be posting. Or you might be more daunted!

If nothing else, it's a heck of a lot of fun.

Judy

 

[alaskaflyer]

Yeah, I've done the same thing. One warning though, in Alaska GE seems to flatten the terrain some, especially once you tilt it. The hills off the south end of my runway are much taller than the appear on GE for example

 

[judypilot]

Yeah, I've done the same thing. One warning though, in Alaska GE seems to flatten the terrain some, especially once you tilt it. The hills off the south end of my runway are much taller than the appear on GE for example

This is true everywhere, but the terrain is still recognizable. The interesting thing is that the digital elevation model they superimposed the satellite photos on isn't completely matched up. I noticed that in one place, the Nenana River swung uphill for a short distance! But that could be due to a slight distortion in the photos. No matter, it's still kind of cool.

Judy

 

[Steve]

If you have time while you are at EMT stop by the Avtek hangar and tell Robert Dentice I said hi from MS. The man has a certificate list a mile long.

http://home.earthlink.net/~n6d/

 

[Frank Browne]

Google Earth is pretty awesome! Try flying down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon! Or a little slow flight over Davis-Monthan.

 

[alaskaflyer]

This is true everywhere, but the terrain is still recognizable. The interesting thing is that the digital elevation model they superimposed the satellite photos on isn't completely matched up. I noticed that in one place, the Nenana River swung uphill for a short distance! But that could be due to a slight distortion in the photos. No matter, it's still kind of cool.

Judy

Same with the Colorado, in the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Now that's some wild water!

 

[alaskaflyer]

Google Earth is pretty awesome! Try flying down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon! Or a little slow flight over Davis-Monthan.

Better yet, some low and slw through the FRZ! Buzz the White House.

 

[gismo]

Better yet, some low and slw through the FRZ! Buzz the White House.

I wonder if we could get them to draw the ADIZ and FRZ outline on GE? That way you could get familiar with the landmarks needed to stay out.

 

[alaskaflyer]

I wonder if we could get them to draw the ADIZ and FRZ outline on GE? That way you could get familiar with the landmarks needed to stay out.

Actually someone has already, and you can add those polygons to your GE yourself. I will try to find that file.

Of course, who knows if they are accurate

 

[alaskaflyer]

Oops, the polygon file I have only show the old prohibited areas. Oh well, here it is anyway, attached. It has prohibited and restricted airspace and class B and C airspace in 3d. Unless you have a super fast connection, be patient after clicking, it takes a minute to download the info from the network placemark link before the polygons will appear.

You can click on the airspace polygons for useful information such as frequencies, altitudes, etc.

It would be relatively easy to reflect the ADIZ and FRZ the same way, perhaps I will do it some afternoon when there is nothing else to do