I have just got a new Windows 10 computer and thought I would try Google Earth's fantastic Flight Simulator. I can fly from Kathmandu OK, but not from any other airport. The plane is just stuck on the runway with a frozen screen and nothing happens. Anybody know what is wrong ?
Just a wild guess here: click "Exit flight simulator" then press Ctrl + Alt a.... and after that type in what runway you want.
Hi! This actually sounds familiar. When we were setting up a similar environment, we ran into almost the same issue with Google Earth Flight Simulator freezing on the runway after launch from certain airports. Interestingly, one location worked fine, while others just locked the screen exactly as you described. When we were dealing with call center consulting, we had a very similar type of stability issue in a different system, and the troubleshooting approach turned out to be surprisingly similar in structure. In your case, we discovered that the problem was not the simulator itself but corrupted cache files and graphics driver conflicts. Kathmandu often loads correctly because it uses a different terrain dataset cache, while other airports trigger full texture streaming, which can freeze if GPU drivers or shader cache are unstable. We fixed it by clearing the Google Earth cache, updating GPU drivers, and deleting the flight simulator configuration file so it could rebuild default settings. After applying those steps, the simulator started working normally from all airports. If the issue persists, I would also recommend checking connected input devices, because a stuck joystick axis can sometimes prevent the simulation from initializing correctly. Running Google Earth as administrator and switching between OpenGL and DirectX rendering modes can also significantly improve stability depending on your system configuration.
I have experienced similar issues with Google Earth's Flight Simulator, and it may be related to graphics settings, outdated drivers, or how the simulator loads certain airports. Since you can fly from Kathmandu without any problems but the screen freezes at other airports, I would first check whether Google Earth is fully updated and whether your graphics card driver is compatible with Windows 10. You could also try switching between OpenGL and DirectX in Google Earth's graphics settings, then restart the program and test again. Another thing worth checking is whether the problem happens at every airport or only at a few specific locations. Hopefully, one of these suggestions helps you get the Flight Simulator working properly again. It's a great feature, so it would be a shame not to enjoy flying from different parts of the world! level devil - not a troll game