Aero-Linx!

Scouring the information super airways can sometimes be a tough, if educational, task for the Aero-News staff... but it also allows us to check out some truly neat and exciting sites, so it's not that bad a gig. On any given day, we may check dozens (and often hundreds) of different sources for story ideas, and facts confirmation. And, as is the nature of our business, much of this is done on the Internet.

The ANN gang decided we probably shouldn't keep some of the neat sites, info resources, and organizations we've discovered to ourselves... so we decided to bring you Aero-Linx. These are the sites that WE check out -- when we need added perspective, a new spin on a day's topic... or just want to escape into cyber-aero-space for awhile.

Look for some of our favorite sites, coming each day to ANN via Aero-Linx. Suggestions for future Aero-Linx segments are always welcome, as well.

Aero-Linx: The Google Earth Flight Simulator

You probably already have Google Earth on your computer... but did you know the program also includes a novel "Easter Egg" especially for flight enthusiasts? By hitting Ctrl-Alt-A on your PC (or, for Mac users, Control-Option-A) you'll open a built-in flight simulator, which allows you to "fly" through Google Earth's stunning virtual world in either a Cirrus SR22, or an F-16! Granted, the flight experience comes nowhere close to duplicating the best from Microsoft in that regard... but you'll be too busy marveling at the images to care much about that.

FMI: www.earth.google.com