flight+

Cool Easter egg: Google Earth's flight simulator

This is so cool: Google Earth (download) has a slightly hidden flight simulator. Press Ctrl-Alt-A (on a PC) to bring it up the first time. After that, Ctrl-A or a selection from the "Tools" menu activates it.

It's no Microsoft Flight Simulator in terms of controls, flyability, or features (no sound, no weather, no autopilot, only two aircraft choices... I could go on), but since the Google flight simulator has access to Google Earth's streaming database, the visuals are awesome. In most areas, it looks fantastic when your plane is more than about 2,000 feet above ground level. Get down low and it becomes a lot less believable, except in cities with good 3D building coverage.

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Cool Easter egg: Google Earth's flight simulator

This is so cool: Google Earth ( download) has a slightly hidden flight simulator. Press Ctrl-Alt-A (on a PC) to bring it up the first time. After that, Ctrl-A or a selection from the "Tools" menu activates it.

It's no Microsoft Flight Simulator in terms of controls, flyability, or features (no sound, no weather, no autopilot, only two aircraft choices... I could go on), but since the Google flight simulator has access to Google Earth's streaming database, the visuals are awesome. In most areas, it looks fantastic when your plane is more than about 2,000 feet … Read more

ForeFlight (iPhone App)

If you're a commercial or general aviation pilot, you know it's crucial to get the airport, aircraft, weather, and routing information you need to plan and execute a flight before you reach the airport. With ForeFlight for iPhone, you can get airport directories, flight times, and weather information right on your phone. This helpful information for pilots requires a subscription which costs $7.50 per month or $75 per year.

iPhone Link: http://iphone.foreflight.com/

Web site link http://foreflight.com

Shopping for a private jet

There have been several stories in the news this week about airplanes and spacecraft. I'm an Air Force veteran myself, and I've been an Aviation Week subscriber for over 20 years, but you don't have to be in the industry to keep up with the latest in aerospace technology. Even CNET covers this kind of thing today, and some of the stories I've seen this week have gotten me thinking about buying a private jet.

I think Esther Dyson deserves a lot of credit for bridging the computer and aerospace industries. In 2005, Esther inaugurated her … Read more

Overpay for airfare, then let Yapta find refunds

Budget travelers will snap up cheap airfares the instant a price drops, even knowing they'll have to squeeze into a fetal position on cramped, red-eye flights with lengthy layovers. Hopefully, a novel new travel assistant could help you be more discriminating.

Unlike Farecast (read more), which predicts fare fluctuations to help plan before you buy, Yapta also follows the costs of flights you've already purchased so you can take advantage of an air-travel secret.

Many air carriers will refund some of the difference if, say, the $1,000 Barcelona round-trip you booked in March now costs only $350. … Read more

Track your flight in 3D

I'm a big fan of Google Earth and have been known to spend hours just cruising around the globe. But now I fear I'll spend even more online aerial time with my recent discovery of one of the coolest Web apps in the universe. You've probably heard of Web sites like FboWeb and FlightAware that allow you to track the position of an airline flight and see data like the plane's speed and altitude. While that's cool enough by itself, the map is a boring two-dimensional graphic that shows little beyond state boundaries and the … Read more

iPod + free peanuts = less air rage?

Reuters says that Papa Steve Jobs has agreed to let six airlines (Air France, Continental Airlines, Delta, Emirates, KLM, and United) provide iPod hookups to their in-flight entertainment systems as of mid-2007. The hookup would let you watch iPod-stored videos on seat-back monitors, thus allowing frequent fliers to avoid watching Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest four times in a month.

We might find this news compelling if we weren't so disappointed that Zune release day didn't bring a rumored (but we admit, extremely unlikely) release of the "true video" touch-screen iPod.

Raytheon cockpit takes cues from games

How much does the defense industry pay attention to gaming? A lot, if this Raytheon invention is any indication.

The institutional defense contractor--did you know it invented the microwave?--has created a weapons-grade version of the Roccaforte to control unmanned aircraft from the cockpit pictured here, according to Gizmag. "We took the best-of-breed technologies from the gaming industry and coupled them with 35 years of Raytheon UAS command and control expertise and developed a state-of-the-art universal cockpit built around the operator," company executive Mark Bigham is quoted as saying.

We think of it as kind of a cross … Read more

Souped-up iPod battery pack gets you through 'Titanic'

Don't batteries suck? I mean, either they blow up in your face, or in the case of Apple's iPod, their lifespans just don't cut it--especially when you're watching video. I mean, what good is a portable video player if it can't get you through a flight from New York to L.A.?

Enter the Sonnettech Volta, a battery add-on that you strap onto your iPod like a backpack. If it works, it'll keep your iPod's video player going for 16 hours or recharge the little guy up to three times. Just think--you could … Read more