Earth dudes might find this

**Marlin** · October 26th, 2009, 22:14

October 26, 2009

3D plane in flight in 3D Buildings layer

A sharp-eyed GEB reader named 'Will' has discovered something pretty cool. At the north end of the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, the Netherlands' main airport, there is a 3D model of an airplane coming in for a landing. The plane was modeled by 'KG800'. You can view the plane using this KML file

. Be sure to have the "3D Buildings" layer turned on.

As far as we know, this it the first 3D plane included in the main "3D Buildings" layer. However, there are been plenty of planes added via third-party KML files before. There was a 3D Plane Tracker we showed a few years ago, the Wirefly X Prize Cup Event, and even an aircraft carrier that you can use with the flight simulator mode.
For normal satellite imagery of airplanes, you can browse this collection of planes in flight, a Lancaster Bomber from a few years ago, or a U-2 Spyplane discovered earlier this year. If you still want more, Google Earth Hacks has nearly 300 planes in their "aircraft in flight" category, and more than 900 "aircraft on the ground". You can even find tons of aircraft in Google StreetView: 121 in flight, or 283 on the ground.
All of that being said, it's still really cool to see a built-in 3D model of a plane in Google Earth. If you find others, please let us know.
[UPDATE 26-OCT: GEB reader 'Tom' just let us know that there are a few 3D planes parked at London Heathrow. I've created a KML file

for you to check them out. Let us know if you find others.]
[UPDATE #2 26-OCT: GEB reader 'Christoph' pointed out that there's a second plane at Schiphol that we missed. You can view it here

]
Posted by mickmel at 8:54 AM | Comments (5)

**Lionheart** · October 27th, 2009, 00:38

Looks like he found a photo of a plane on landing, so he added it above the photo area for a more realistic look.

Very cool.

Amazing what some people have done in Google Earth building scenery. You should roam around Paris and check out how they are totally building all their scenery up in models.. A ton of work going on...

Bill

***Dain Arns*** · October 27th, 2009, 01:27

"All Aircraft in Flight" maintains the locations of all aircraft caught flying on GE. Some of the locations you may need to go to "View" and activate "Historical Imagery", like the shot of the KC-10 refueling a C-5 over Oregon a few years ago. Over 3000+ locations noted now!

http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/ubbthread...te_id=1#import

***TeaSea*** · October 27th, 2009, 16:39

Arghhh....

I spotted one in a view just down the road from my house....but then they upgraded the photo's and it went away....

Oh well.

***Dain Arns*** · October 27th, 2009, 17:04

Originally Posted by TeaSea

Arghhh....

I spotted one in a view just down the road from my house....but then they upgraded the photo's and it went away....

Oh well.

Not really. Go to "View", then select "Historical Imagery". You can "go back in time" so to speak, and see all of the images for the area for the past decade or so, by using the slider that pops up.

***Dain Arns*** · October 27th, 2009, 17:32

Google Earth introduced a new feature a while ago called "Historical Imagery". If aerial photographs are available for an area, Google has them in place now. I think so far the archive goes back to 1930 for some areas.

Using the Historical Imagery slider, I can look at changes to the Washington D.C. Mall area from 1949 to Present. I included a couple screenshots as an example:

***AckAck*** · October 27th, 2009, 19:45

Love the 1949 satellite photo of the DC mall!

Brian

**crashaz** · October 27th, 2009, 20:33

Originally Posted by Dain Arns

Google Earth introduced a new feature a while ago called "Historical Imagery". If aerial photographs are available for an area, Google has them in place now. I think so far the archive goes back to 1930 for some areas.

Using the Historical Imagery slider, I can look at changes to the Washington D.C. Mall area from 1949 to Present. I included a couple screenshots as an example:

Darn.... if they would just do Oahu now..first place I went to check when I found that feature.

***Dain Arns*** · October 27th, 2009, 23:59

Originally Posted by crashaz

Darn.... if they would just do Oahu now..first place I went to check when I found that feature.

LOL, yeah me too. Just some black and white aerail stuff from a few years back, so far.

I like to hang out here sometimes and see what I can find on GE:

http://www.airfields-freeman.com/index.htm

***TeaSea*** · October 28th, 2009, 15:23

Originally Posted by Dain Arns

Not really. Go to "View", then select "Historical Imagery". You can "go back in time" so to speak, and see all of the images for the area for the past decade or so, by using the slider that pops up.

I have tried that. I think they are using differing sources for the imagery because my little airplane cannot be found. Now no one believes me (except my daughter who I forced to look over and over again).