GeoFS, known before 2017 as Google Earth Flight Simulator (GEFS), is a free, online, multiplayer, global flight simulator. Created by Xavier Tassin in 2010, the game runs in any browser, and is designed to be as hardware-friendly as possible. Despite being a very simple flight simulator, the game has complex physics, environment simulation, and numerous applications in education and business due to its simplicity. The game has 28 officially released aircraft and 85 aircraft created and contributed by the community. As well, several plugins have been created by the community to further enhance the experience. The game has a significant virtual aviation community, most notably relating to military aviation simulation; the community has created their own wiki on the game and the many virtual groups associated with it.
Main features[]
- Free global 10m satellite imagery c/o Copernicus Sentiel-2 data.
- HD satellite imagery by Microsoft Bing Maps for €9.99.
- Over 30,000 airports and airstrips.
- Nearly all of the airports with runways longer than 6,000 ft have runway sprites if HD is not enabled.
- Global NASA SRTM topographical data.
- Global building and tree cover data by OpenStreetMap.
- Simplistic weather simulation, with the option of using real-time weather or set preferences.
- Simplistic physics simulation, allowing anyone to get into aviation without needing to know everything about aerial physics.
- Options for mouse, keyboard, or joystick controls, with experimental support for flight yoke/pedals systems.
- ADS-B aircraft traffic.
- 113 playable aircraft, not including official alternate liveries.
- Multi-livery support for selected official aircraft.
- Multi-livery support for community contributed aircraft via addon.
- Multiplayer support, including cockpit sharing.
- Live chat (unmoderated).
- Autopilot and GPS navigation.
Development[]
Development of GeoFS is wholly conducted by Xavier Tassin, its founder and creator. Community contributions are approved by Xavier and added to the game by his discretion. Development has been nearly continuous since its release in 2010, with brief pauses in the mid-2010s and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Released aircraft[]
Official releases[]
- Piper Cub (Liveries: Yellow, Red)
- Cessna 172 (Liveries: Classic, Modern)
- Alphajet PAF (Livery: Armee de l'Air)
- Boeing 737-700 (Liveries: KLM, United Airlines, ANA, SouthWest, WestJet, GOL)
- Embraer Phenom 100 (Livery: house)
- de Havilland DHC6 Twin Otter (Liveries: FlyBe, Canadian Air Force)
- F-16 Fighting Falcon (Livery: USAF Airshow)
- Pitts Special S1 (Liveries: Classic Red, Airshow)
- Eurocopter EC135 (Livery: Black and Yellow)
- Airbus A380 (Liveries: Emirates, Air France, Qantas)
- Alisport Silent 2 Electro (Livery: White)
- Pilatus PC-7 Mk-1 (Livery: Czech Air Force)
- de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver (Liveries: EPOCH Alaska Air, N963DH Green-White, N323KT Red-White, N295B White-Brown, Lakeland Airways, Kenmore 66Z, Clipper Aviation, Civil Air Patrol, Alaska Forestry)
- Colomban MC-15 Cri-cri (Liveries: Criquet, Bleu Blanc Rouge, Camo)
- Lockheed P-38 Lightning F-5B (Liveries: Navy, Saint-Exupery)
- Douglas DC-3 (Livery: unknown)
- McDonnell Douglas MD-11 (Livery: FedEx)
- Sukhoi Su-35 (Liveries: Akula 35, Russia Bort 01, Russia Bort 06, Russia Bort 903, Ho Ho Ho)
- Concorde (Liveries: British Airways, Air France, Pepsi)
- Zlin Z-50 (Livery: Red Bull)
- Cessna 152 (Livery: Yellow)
- Piper PA-28
- Airbus A350 (Liveries: Air France)
- Boeing 777-300ER (Liveries: American Airlines, Delta)
- Antonov An-140 (Livery: Aeromost)
- Evektor Sportstar (Livery: SportStar)
- szd-48-3 Jantar (Livery: White)
- Paraglider (Livery: none)
- Hot Air Balloon (Livery: Major Tom, Pixels, GeoFS, Losanges, Red, Orange, Scale, Christmas)
- Hughes 269a/TH-55 Osage (Livery: house)
- Goat Airchair (Livery: unknown)
- Citroen Duck (Easter Egg)
Community Contributions[]
Community contributions have varying levels of quality and playability. Passenger jets, where applicable, have their associated airline mentioned.
- Boeing 787-9 (Vistara)
- North American XB-70 Valkyrie
- North America X-15
- A-10C Thunderbolt II
- A220-300 (Air Tanzania)
- A220-300 (Swiss)
- AgustaWestland Aw609
- Airbus A318-112
- Airbus A319 (Air China)
- Airbus A319 (Finnair)
- Airbus A319 (United Airlines)
- Airbus A320-214 (EasyJet)
- Airbus A320neo (Flynas)
- Airbus A320neo (Iberia)
- Airbus A320neo (Air India)
- Airbus A321neo (Asiana)
- Airbus A330-300 (Singapore)
- Airbus A340-600 (Lufthansa)
- Airbus A350-1000 XWB
- Airbus A400M Atlas
- Antonov An-225 Mriya
- ATR 72-600 (HOP!)
- ATR 72-600 (Silver)
- ATR 72-600 (UTair)
- BAe 146-300/Avro RJ100 (Swiss)
- Bell UH-1H Iroquois
- Boeing 737 MAX 8 (Norwegian)
- Boeing 737 MAX 8 (SpiceJet)
- Boeing 737 MAX 8 (TUI)
- Boeing 737-200 (British Airways)
- Boeing 737-800 (American Airlines) currently unplayable due to bug
- Boeing 737-800 (Air India Express)
- Boeing 747-8 Freighter (CargoLux)
- Boeing 757-200 (Delta Airlines)
- Boeing 767-300ER (Air Canada Rouge)
- Boeing 777 Freighter (Singapore)
- Boeing 777-300ER (Air New Zealand)
- Boeing 787-10 (British Airways)
- Boeing 787-10 (Etihad)
- Boeing 787-8 (Hainan)
- Boeing 787-9 (Air New Zealand)
- Boeing p8I Neptune
- Bombardier CRJ-200 (Belavia)
- Bombardier CRJ-700 (United)
- Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 (FlyBe)
- Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander (LoganAir)
- Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander (St. Barth Commuter)
- Caproni Stipa
- Chance Vought F4U-1D Corsair
- Cirrus SR22 GTR Turbo
- Cirrus Vision Jet/SF50 G2
- CRJ-900 (Lufthansa) currently unplayable due to bug
- Dassault Mirage 2000-5
- Dassault nEUROn
- Embraer E190 (JetBlue)
- Embraer E195-E2 (KLM)
- Embraer E120 Brasilia (Air France)
- Embraer ERJ-170 (Delta)
- Embraer ERJ-195AR (Breeze)
- Embraer ERJ145LR (HOP!)
- F-14B Tomcat
- F-15C Eagle
- F-22 Raptor
- Falcon 9
- Grumman E-2C Hawkeye
- Grumman JF2-5 Duck
- HAL LCA Tejas Mk1
- HAL-Dornier 228-100 (Indian Coast Guard)
- Lockheed Martin P791
- Lockheed Martin SR-71A Blackbird
- MQ9B Reaper
- Northrop Grumman B2 Spirit
- Pilatus PC-12
- Pilatus PC-24
- Piper PA-28
- Robinson R-44
- Robinson R-22
- Roziere Balloon
- SAAB 340 (NWA Airlink)
- Scaled 339 SpaceShipTwo
- Scaled 348 WhiteKnightTwo
- Sikorsky S-97 Raider
- Space Shuttle Atlantis
- Supermarine Spitfire Mk XIV
- Windward Performance Perlan II
Community[]
Besides creating dozens of aircraft, the community has also spent considerable effort in creating virtual airlines and air forces. Since its formation in 2015 (possibly earlier), the community has referred to their groups as "roleplay groups," creating airlines such as Linee Aeree Calabre, European Atlantic Airlines, and Blue Ridge Airways, air forces such as the Royal Canadian Air Force, the United States Air Force, and the Allied European Forces. In recent years, the largest virtual airlines moved to more realistic flight simulators, bringing much of the virtual airline community with them. As a result, the majority of activity since mid-2021 has been virtual military aviation.
The community created the GeoFS Wiki in 2019 to collect and record both the game itself and the plethora of virtual groups they have created and the "lore" that has formed over time. The GeoFS Wiki has over 1200 pages and 100,000 edits.