The Planet In Action folk, who developed the awesome Ship simulator for Google Earth a while ago, have done it again with a Helicopter sim game. The idea is simple, you’re the pilot of a helicopter and you earn money for taking on jobs around the area, such as taxi pickups. The simulation is set inside Google Earth, so you get to enjoy all the rich scenery of the location, and you have as much freedom of movement as you need to get the job done.

It’s great fun, and also, as you gain experience and more money, you’ll be called on to do more exotic tasks, such as acting an an airborne cattle herder or hunting expeditions. Hit things and you lose money for repair work, so it pays to be careful with your flying skills. As with the ship sim, the sound effects are excellent, and the controls are just easy enough to master quickly, yet tricky enough to make it a bit of a challenge.

If you’ve got the time and you’re a fan of scooting around in a chopper, this is the game for you. It’s completely free, and runs in your web browser. Enjoy!