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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
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
exploration rather than high-fidelity aerodynamic training. - Dynamic loading: As you fly, 3D buildings and high-resolution imagery
stream in dynamically. Flying at extreme speeds or over low-bandwidth
connections may result in temporary loading delays.
Start a flight
To launch the flight simulator, do the following:
- On your computer, open Google
Earth. - At the top of the home screen, click
Explore Earth. - Open the Tools menu in the top menu bar.
- Select Flight simulator from
the menu.
Use the following keyboard shortcuts to control your aircraft.
| Action | Keyboard control | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Increase thrust | Page up or click on-screen indicator | Accelerates the aircraft’s engine speed |
| Decrease thrust | Page down or click on-screen indicator | Decelerates the aircraft’s engine speed |
| Pitch down (dive) | Up arrow | Directs the nose of the plane downward to decrease altitude |
| Pitch up (climb) | Up arrow | Directs the nose of the plane upward to gain altitude |
| Roll left (bank) | Left arrow | Banks the aircraft to the left |
| Roll right (bank) | Right arrow | Banks the aircraft to the right |
| Toggle mouse controls | Click inside simulation | Alternates between mouse-guided flight controls and keyboard controls |
Crash recovery
If your aircraft makes direct impact with the ground terrain, the simulation
will pause. Click You crashed! Restart to instantly restore your aircraft
at a safe, playable altitude and coordinates.
Exit simulator
Click the back arrow in the
upper-left corner of the flight simulator to safely exit the simulation and
return to the standard Google Earth map view.
Known issues
- Terrain anomalies: When flying near ground level in regions below sea
level (for example, Badwater Basin in California), you may experience
occasional flashing or clipping. - Overlapping controls: Standard map shortcut keys (such as historical
imagery toggles) are deactivated during flight to avoid conflicting with
flight controls.
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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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