Globe Flight PASS Free browser flight simulator with real satellite imagery

Globe Flight: free flight simulator online

Globe Flight is a free flight simulator you play in your browser, over the real Earth. The ground is real elevation data for the whole planet (AWS Terrain Tiles), draped with real imagery streamed while you fly: a worldwide Landsat satellite mosaic from NASA, and sharp open aerial photos from the national mapping agencies of the United States (USGS), Switzerland (swisstopo), Austria (basemap.at), France (IGN) and Japan (GSI). In cities, 3D buildings rise from OpenStreetMap footprints and heights, so you can fly up the Hudson past the Manhattan skyline or over Victoria Harbour. The sun sits where the real sun is for that place today, with haze, clouds and reflective water. Take off from 25 real runways, including New York JFK, London Heathrow, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Tokyo Haneda, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, San Francisco and Innsbruck, start over 21 famous landscapes, or type any latitude and longitude. The flight model is a six-degrees-of-freedom simulation: lift and stall, drag, engine power that falls with altitude, flaps, gear, trim, ground effect, wind and turbulence. Challenges: scored landings at famous airports (a new Daily Landing every day), timed runs through the Grand Canyon, the Alps, the Hudson River and Victoria Harbour, and the Daily Route of seven gates, the same for everyone, with challenge links. A short tutorial teaches take-off, turns and landing. No download, no sign-up: it runs on phones, Chromebooks and PCs with touch, phone tilt, keyboard, mouse or a gamepad.

How to play Globe Flight

1. Press Fly the daily route, Challenges or Learn to fly, or choose Free flight and pick a landscape, a real runway or any place on Earth.
2. Fly with the arrow keys or WASD (or the right thumb, or tilt the phone); set power with Shift and Ctrl (or the left slider).
3. On a runway: full power, let the speed build, then pull back gently at rotation speed and climb away.
4. To land: line up with the runway, flaps down, power back, a gentle 3-degree descent, then raise the nose just before touchdown. Every landing is scored out of 100.
5. On a run or the Daily Route, fly through the seven orange gates in order, then send the challenge link to a friend.

Controls

Phone and tablet: Your right thumb is the control stick: drag it to bank and to pitch the nose up or down, or switch on Tilt to fly in the pause menu and steer by tilting the phone. The slider on the left sets the throttle, and buttons work the flaps, gear and brakes. Flight assist keeps turns coordinated and holds your climb or descent when you let go. Phones load a lighter detail level automatically. Turn the phone sideways for the widest view.

Desktop, laptop and Chromebook: Arrow keys or WASD fly the aircraft (up pushes the nose down, like a real control column; invert it in the pause menu). Q and E work the rudder, Shift and Ctrl or the number keys set the throttle, F extends the flaps (Shift+F retracts), G moves the gear, [ and ] trim the nose, Space holds the brakes, C changes the camera (chase, cockpit, orbit, flyby), N shows or hides the map, K takes a photo and Esc pauses. Drag with the mouse to look around, or switch on Mouse flies to fly with the pointer. A gamepad works too.

Globe Flight tips and strategy

• Keep at least 1,000 ft between you and the ridges until you know the valley.
• At high altitude the air is thin: the engine makes less power and the aircraft needs more speed to fly. Over Everest, keep the nose low and the speed up.
• For a soft landing, aim for under 200 ft per minute at touchdown: the aircraft floats a little in ground effect just above the runway, so ease the power off and let it settle.
• Touch down in the first 600 m past the threshold markings and stay on the centreline: both count toward your landing score.
• If the stall warning sounds, lower the nose and add power before you pull again.
• With flight assist off, use [ and ] to trim the nose so the aircraft holds its attitude hands-off.

Game modes

• Daily Route: seven gates through a famous landscape, the same for everyone today, with a time and a challenge link.
• Daily Landing: one famous approach for everyone each day, scored out of 100 for sink rate, centreline, touchdown point and stopping on the runway.
• Challenges: landing challenges at JFK, Heathrow, Charles de Gaulle, Haneda, LAX, Hong Kong, San Francisco and Innsbruck, and timed runs through the Grand Canyon, the Alps (Lauterbrunnen valley), the Hudson River and Victoria Harbour.
• Free flight: 21 scenic air starts, 25 real runways, or any latitude and longitude on Earth.
• Learn to fly: a six-step tutorial from brakes off to your first landing.
• Fun Pass extras: three more aircraft (Rook 9 STOL bush plane, Strix A2 aerobatic, Vesper SJ jet), morning, golden hour, dusk, night and live local-time skies, haze, overcast and strong-wind weather, saved spots and every past Daily Route.

The Daily Route, Daily Landing, every challenge, free flight anywhere on Earth, the Kestrel T-3 trainer, photos, clips and challenge links are free, with no ads and no sign-up. The Globe Flight Pilot Pack ($2.99 once) or the optional CyberMax Fun Pass ($2.99/month, $19/year or $29.99 for life) adds three more aircraft, every time of day and weather, saved spots and the archive of past Daily Routes; the Fun Pass also opens everything in every CyberMax game. Neither changes the flight model, the map or the challenges.

Globe Flight FAQ

Is Globe Flight free to play?

Yes. The Daily Route, the Daily Landing, every challenge, free flight anywhere on Earth, the Kestrel T-3 trainer, photos, clips and challenge links are free, with no ads and no sign-up. The optional CyberMax Fun Pass ($2.99/month, $19/year or $29.99 once) adds the Rook 9 STOL, the Strix A2 aerobatic plane and the Vesper SJ jet, morning, golden hour, dusk, night and live skies, haze, overcast and strong wind, saved spots and every past Daily Route.

Is the map real?

Yes. The shape of the ground is real elevation data for the whole Earth (SRTM, 3DEP, EU-DEM and other national and global models, served as AWS Terrain Tiles). On top of it Globe Flight streams real imagery: a worldwide Landsat satellite mosaic (about 30 m per pixel, a 1999 composite) from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services, and much sharper open aerial photos where national mapping agencies publish them: USGS in the United States, swisstopo in Switzerland, basemap.at in Austria, IGN in France and GSI in Japan. 3D buildings come from OpenStreetMap. Water, clouds, sky and haze are drawn by the game.

Can I fly over my house?

You can fly to any latitude and longitude, or use Near me. Everywhere you see the real hills, coast, rivers, fields and towns from the Landsat mosaic. In the United States, Switzerland, Austria, France and Japan the aerial photos are sharp enough to pick out streets and buildings, and in cities that OpenStreetMap has mapped you also get 3D buildings. Elsewhere individual houses are too small for the worldwide 30 m imagery.

Which airports are in Globe Flight?

25 real runways, placed from public airport data (OurAirports): New York JFK, London Heathrow, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Tokyo Haneda, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, San Francisco, Innsbruck, Sion and Samedan in the Alps, Queenstown, Talkeetna, Grand Canyon, Mammoth Lakes, Telluride, Aspen, Kahului (Maui), Alesund, Rio de Janeiro Santos Dumont, Cape Town, Madeira, Paro, Sint Maarten, Gibraltar and Reykjavik.

How realistic is the flight model?

It is a six-degrees-of-freedom simulation with real aerodynamic coefficients for each aircraft class: lift with a stall break, induced and parasite drag, ground effect near the runway, engine power that falls with altitude, flaps, gear, brakes, pitch trim, wind and turbulence. It is a game, not a certified trainer, and it is not for real navigation.

Does it run on my phone?

Yes. Globe Flight runs in the browser on phones, tablets, Chromebooks and PCs. Phones get a lighter detail level and fewer 3D buildings automatically, and the resolution adapts to keep it smooth. Fly with your thumb or by tilting the phone; flight assist keeps turns smooth.

Is Globe Flight multiplayer?

You fly solo and compete through the Daily Route and Daily Landing (the same for everyone each day) and challenge links that carry your time or score. You can also share a link that starts a friend at exactly the spot you photographed.

Is Globe Flight unblocked?

Globe Flight is an HTML5 game on cybermaxtools.com with no download or plug-in. It streams map tiles from public addresses (Amazon Web Services, NASA, OpenFreeMap and national mapping agencies), so whether a school or work network allows it depends on that network's filters. If the map can't load, you still fly, over open sea, from the real runways.

How much is the Globe Flight Pilot Pack?

$2.99 once, no subscription: it adds the Rook 9 STOL, Strix A2 and Vesper SJ aircraft, morning, golden hour, dusk and night skies, haze, overcast and strong-wind weather, saved spots and every past Daily Route, for good, and your receipt code works on any device. The Daily Route, free flight anywhere and the Kestrel T-3 stay free for everyone. The CyberMax Fun Pass includes the same extras and covers every CyberMax game.

Similar free games