Google Flight Simulator

TL;DR

It is Google's ancient Earth-based flight sim being dangled in front of developers who want to play with 3D geospatial data without building a world engine from scratch.

Who is this actually for?

Hobbyist devs and mapping nerds who want to visualize flight paths using real-world satellite imagery without paying for a professional GIS suite.

The Good

• Access to the world's most comprehensive 3D mapping data for free.
• Low barrier to entry for basic 3D environment rendering and fly-throughs.

The Catch (Potential Downsides)

The flight physics are incredibly clunky and will not satisfy anyone used to Microsoft Flight Simulator. Documentation for Google Earth's developer tools is often a graveyard of deprecated features and broken links.