GEFS-Online

GEFS-Online is a free, online flight simulator based on the Google Earth plug-in.^[1] GEFS-Online provides a multi-player environment for players to interact with each other through the chat function.^[2] Created by Xavier Tassin, it was launched in October 2010. GEFS-Online has since expanded rapidly, with an average of 100 players on at any one time as of August 2013.

GEFS-Online Version 1.0 banner

Aircraft available

The following 19 aircraft are currently available to fly (version 1.0):

• Airbus A380 - original house livery
• McDonnell Douglas MD-11F (tri-engine freighter) - Fedex Express livery
• Concorde (retired supersonic passenger aircraft) - Air France livery
• Douglas DC-3 (Twin piston engine aircraft)
• Antonov An-140 (Ukrainian twin turboprop airliner) - Aeromist livery
• Sukhoi Su-35 (multi-role fighter jet)
• Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet (military trainer aircraft)
• Piper J-3 Cub (Training aircraft)
• Cessna 152 (Training aircraft)
• Zlin Z-50 (Stunt aircraft) - Red Bull livery
• Evektor SportStar (Light sport aircraft)
• Sopwith Camel F.1 (Bi-plane)
• "Major Tom" (hot air balloon)
• Hughes 269/TH-55 (helicopter)
• Goat Airchair (glider)
• Paraglider (Glider)
• szd-48-3 Jantar (Glider)

Community Contributed Aircraft by Flight Level Development Group (FLDG) - Le AlphaDelta, SuperCheese21, and Qantas 94 Heavy:

• Boeing 777-300ER - Air New Zealand Silver Fern livery
• Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 - Flybe livery

Notable features

The Google Earth Plugin provides a realistic, worldwide scenery, with over 30,000 runways to take-off and land from all around the world.^[3] There is an autopilot function that controls altitude, heading, and speed. Additional functions include PAPI lighting, customizable weather (wind, clouds), time-of-day rendering and high-intensity runway lights at night. The A380 and the DC-3 have partially functional virtual cockpits.

Callsigns

In GEFS-Online, a "Foo" is the default callsign of a new pilot who has not logged in with a Google Account or created one. Within the GEFS-Online community, a "Foo" is a commonly used word to describe a bad, disrespectful pilot or one who has a lack of aviation knowledge.

Virtual airlines

GEFS is a flight simulator used for quite a few virtual airlines, simulating real life airline operations. The number of virtual airlines has become quite substantial, triggering the need for a separate sub-forum on the GEFS-Online forums.^[4] The types of virtual airlines can range from completely fictional, to virtual airlines based on currently running, real world airlines.

References