Use Google Earth Pro historical imagery to research period-correct runways, taxiways and buildings, avoid date traps, and handle licensing correctly.
For flight simulator scenery research, use Google Earth Pro’s Historical Imagery tool to step through dated aerial and satellite captures of an airport. Record changes to runways, taxiways, aprons, buildings and surrounding terrain for your chosen era. Use the images as evidence, not as automatically licensed scenery textures, and cross-check ambiguous details.
This method applies to Microsoft Flight Simulator, FSX, Prepar3D and X-Plane. Google Earth Pro supplies visual evidence; it does not export finished airport scenery or simulator-ready ground imagery.
How do I inspect older airport imagery?
Work from a fixed target date and compare the closest available capture on either side of it.
- Locate the airport. Search by airport name, ICAO code or coordinates. Coordinates are usually more reliable for closed airports and sites whose names have changed.
- Clean up the view. Reset to a straight-down, north-up view and disable 3D buildings, roads, labels and other layers that could hide the source imagery. These overlays may represent a different period from the historical image beneath them.
- Open Historical Imagery. Select the historical imagery option from the View menu or use its clock-style toolbar button. Move the time slider through the available captures.
- Bracket the required year. Inspect the nearest image before the target date, the nearest one after it and any capture between them. Construction scars, temporary closures and half-completed taxiways often explain when a change occurred.
- Record each observation. Add placemarks, paths or polygons for runway ends, taxiway junctions, demolished buildings and other useful evidence. Include the displayed image date, feature description and confidence level in the item name or notes.
- Measure cautiously. Google Earth Pro’s ruler is useful for approximate runway, apron and building dimensions, but the result is not survey-grade. Confirm critical dimensions from an authorised aerodrome or geospatial source.
If you already have airport boundaries or survey points, our instructions for bringing a KML reference layer into Google Earth Pro explain how to load them. Keep imported reference data separate from your historical observations so their origins remain clear.
What scenery details can historical imagery reveal?
Historical captures are strongest for horizontal layout and chronology, but weak for height, operational status and very small equipment.
| Feature | Useful evidence | Main limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Runways and taxiways | Extensions, closures, new links, displaced thresholds and surface changes | Mosaic seams and coordinate offsets can make edges appear misaligned |
| Aprons and markings | Stand layout, centre lines, parking areas and repainted sections | Older or lower-resolution captures may not show individual markings clearly |
| Buildings | Footprints, roof shapes, construction dates and demolition | A vertical image rarely provides dependable wall or roof height |
| Airport surroundings | Access roads, tree lines, industrial areas, shorelines and cleared land | Seasonal vegetation or temporary earthworks can be misleading |
| Lights and navaids | Approximate positions of larger antenna arrays and approach structures | An image cannot confirm operating status, specification or exact light type |
Why does the imagery date change when I zoom or pan?
Google Earth may assemble the view from several image tiles or mosaics captured on different dates, and changing the zoom level can load another source image.
Do not assume that every pixel on screen shares the date shown by the time slider. Move around the airport, watch for colour or sharpness changes at tile boundaries and record the date associated with each area you actually use. Our explanation of Google Earth imagery dates and historical coverage covers this behaviour in more detail.
- No image for the required year: bracket the date with earlier and later captures. Mark the result as inferred rather than silently choosing one layout.
- Features move between captures: orthorectification and source differences can create small offsets. Compare several stable control points instead of aligning the entire project to one roof corner.
- One image shows an unusual layout: it may depict construction, temporary parking or a closed runway. Check adjacent dates before treating it as the normal airport configuration.
- Historical imagery conflicts with 3D buildings: the building model and base image may come from different periods. Disable the 3D layer when researching chronology.
Can I use Google Earth imagery as scenery textures?
Viewing imagery in Google Earth Pro does not automatically grant permission to copy, crop or distribute it as a flight simulator texture. Imagery may belong to Google or another credited provider, and attribution alone is not a substitute for the necessary licence.
Use Google Earth Pro to establish what changed and when, then construct distributable scenery from data and assets whose terms permit simulator use. If a project requires photoreal ground textures, obtain aerial imagery licensed for modification and redistribution. For MSFS projects, our research-to-SDK scenery workflow explains where imagery rights fit into the build process.
How should I turn the research into scenery?
Convert every observation into a dated, traceable project decision rather than mixing features from whichever captures look clearest.
- Define the target era. Use an exact date or a narrow range. This prevents a rebuilt terminal from appearing beside a runway layout removed years earlier.
- Keep an evidence log. Record the feature, displayed imagery date, coordinates, supporting source and confidence level. Distinguish observed facts from estimates.
- Choose the correct scenery method. Recreate layout changes with native runway, taxiway and apron elements; use 3D models for buildings; use authorised orthophotos for ground textures; and use licensed elevation data for terrain.
- Preserve coordinate references. KML stores useful geographic points and shapes, but it is not a simulator scenery package. The data still needs to be transferred through the relevant simulator SDK or development tool.
- Validate inside the simulator. Compare runway intersections, building sight lines and apron spacing from several viewpoints. A top-down match can still produce poor scale or placement from the cockpit.
GIS software, image editors, modelling applications and simulator SDKs each handle a different part of that process; our guide to flight simulator add-on development tools explains which type is appropriate for each task.