MyFsGoogleEarth is a small webserver that links Flight Simulator with Google Earth. It adds placemarks at aircraft's current position, at estimated position one minute ahead and for surrounding AI traffic. It can also provide a continuous "follow aircraft" view.
MyFsGoogleEarth requires FSUIPC by Peter Dowson, available at http://www.schiratti.com/dowson.html (also works with unregistered version). You can also use it on a separate PC with a registered WideFS.
The program itself does not require any special setup - just unzip the downloaded file and copy all contained files to any folder of your choice.
Next step is to start the "MyFsGoogleEarth" application and configure the values in the top frame named "Server". All other values in the other frames can be ignored for the moment, they can later be adjusted while flying.
Determines the network interface (identified by its IP address) on which the server should be started, i. e. the network interfaces that are allowed to access the server.
The special IP "0.0.0.0" selects all available network interfaces, the IP "127.0.0.1" means "local computer only". All other IPs shown in the drop-down box belong to other active interfaces like LAN, WLAN or Internet connections.
Gives the port number on which the web server is running, default is 30080.
Note: It's suggested not to use the default HTTP port 80 to avoid conflicts with other local web servers like IIS or Apache.
If checked, the web server will start automatically when the application is started.
Starts the web server so Google Earth can connect to it.
Stops the web server.
Shows the number of served requests from Google Earth.
In this mode, aircraft's current position on ground remains in the center of the screen when "tilting".
In this mode, the view point is fixed on aircraft's current position when "tilting", i. e. it always remains directly above or below aircraft's current position.
Places the viewpoint at an altitude based on aircraft's current altitude. A value of "100" means "same altitude as aircraft", a value of "200" means "double altitude" and so on.
Places the viewpoint at an fixed altitude above sea level.
Places the viewpoint at a given altitude above ground level at current aircraft position.
This value gives the minimum altitude above ground level for the viewpoint. If the altitude calculated by above rules is lower than the value given here, this value is used instead.
Sets the "Tilt" value of Google Earth in "follow aircraft" view. A value of "0" results in a top view, higher values tilt the view by the given number of degrees.
... and create or select any flight. As soon as the aircraft is ready for take-off (or is flyin), pause FS and minimize it.
... and press its "Start" button so it can serve the requests coming from Google Earth.
... and create a new folder named "MyFsGoogleEarth" with menu item "Add -> Folder". In this folder we will add some items in the steps below.
Mark the "MyFsGoogleEarth" folder in the "Places" window and add a "Network Link" with menu item "Add -> Network Link". This first link will show aircraft's current position in Google Earth without changing the current view.
Required and suggested settings for this link are marked with red circles in the following hardcopy:
In the "Location" field you have to enter the URL pointing
to file "ma.kml" (or "mark-aircraft.kml")
on the MyFsGoogleEarth web server, e. g. "http://127.0.0.1:30080/ma.kml".
To get continuous position updates while flying you have to select "Periodically" and the wanted time interval.
Mark the "MyFsGoogleEarth" folder in the "Places" window and add a "Network Link" with menu item "Add -> Network Link". This link will show surrounding AI traffic in Google Earth without changing the current view.
The settings for this link are quite similar to the one above, just use file
"mai.kml" (or "mark-ai-traffic.kml")
instead, e. g. "http://127.0.0.1:30080/mai.kml".
Mark the "MyFsGoogleEarth" folder in the "Places" window and add another "Network Link" with menu item "Add -> Network Link". If marked in Google Earth, this link will continuously follow aircraft's current position.
Required and suggested settings for this link are marked with red circles in the following hardcopy:
In the "Location" field you have to enter the URL pointing
to file "fa.kml" (or "follow-aircraft.kml")
on the MyFsGoogleEarth web server, e. g. "http://127.0.0.1:30080/fa.kml".
To get continuous position updates while flying you have to select "Periodically" and the wanted time interval.
Be sure to mark "Fly to View on Refresh" so the View is really updated.
Now check the "Places" window, it should look like the following one now:
If the network links do not show any details (i. e. the blue headlines and comments are missing), Google Earth was not able to download the files from MyFsGoogleEarth:
After connection errors, checking the boxes left of the items does not work any more. You have to mark the items, right click to open their context menus and select "Refresh" to make them work again.
Or ... just close and restart Google Earth.
To check if the web server of MyFsGoogleEarth is running and accessible, try to open the root page in a web browser.
Try to click this link: http://127.0.0.1:30080/
If the server is running and accessible, you should get a screen like the following one:
The links on this page show available files. If you click on one of the .kml
files, the browser should (ask you to) open them in Google Earth.
With Google Earth's default options you will probably notice that the movement of the View is too slow for this purpose. You might want to speed it up a little with menu item "Tools -> Options":
