Flight video
Flying over the Thames at Westminster
Twelve seconds over the Thames in London, recorded in Skydex. The flight follows the river past the Houses of Parliament toward the London Eye.
About this video
- Place
- London
- Length
- 12 seconds, plays in a loop
- Picture
- 1280×720, no sound
- Recorded
- October 16, 2026
- Take-off point
- 51.4935° N, 0.1225° W
- Map data
- Google Maps · Google; Airbus; Data SIO, NOAA, U.S. Navy, NGA, GEBCO; IBCAO; Landsat / Copernicus
What you see
The Palace of Westminster and the Elizabeth Tower stand on the bank to the left. Westminster Bridge crosses the river ahead, with the London Eye turning beyond it on the South Bank. The towers of the City show on the horizon to the right, and the labels in the sky are real flights over London at the time.
How it was recorded
We recorded the clip in Skydex itself, in a browser pointed at the live site. The game ran on a virtual clock so that every frame finished rendering, and the craft flew with the forward key held down. The only edit afterwards is a one-second crossfade that joins the end to the start, so the clip loops. The Google Maps logo and the map data line are part of the picture because Google asks for them in any video made from its 3D tiles.
Fly it yourself
Skydex runs in the browser and costs nothing. Press Fly there and the game opens over London. Hold W to fly forward, steer with A and D, climb with Space and descend with Shift. F hides the interface if you want the same clean view as in the video.
More flights
Flying along the Elbe in Hamburg
Flying over Central Park in Manhattan
Flying down the Champ de Mars to the Eiffel Tower
Flying up to Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro
Flying low over Sydney HarbourQuestions
Where exactly was the London video recorded?
The flight starts at 51.4935° N, 0.1225° W. Fly there opens the game at that point, so you can follow the same line yourself.
Is this real gameplay?
Yes. Every clip is a recording of the game running in a browser against the live site. Nothing is added except the short crossfade at the end that makes it loop.
Are the aircraft in the sky real?
Yes. The labelled aircraft in some of the clips were real flights in the air while we recorded, heard by the Skydex receiver network over ADS-B. In the game you can fly up to them and catch them for your collection.
Where does the 3D city come from?
The buildings, terrain and water are Google's photorealistic 3D tiles, streamed while you fly. The map data credits for each clip are printed under the video and in the corner of the picture.
Do I need to install anything to fly like this?
No. Skydex runs in the browser on a computer, phone or tablet, and it is free. You can take off as a guest; signing in keeps your catches and progress.
Why is there no sound?
The clips were made for the game's start screen, where they play next to the menu on their own. A loop that suddenly starts making noise there would get in the way, so they are silent.
Will there be more videos?
Yes, as we record new places. Every new clip gets its own page here and a slot in the game's start screen.