Google Earth, Maps and Street View: scouting spotting spots digitally

A new airport, a free Saturday and the question of where to stand: most spotters first open the satellite image. But Google Earth, Google Maps and Street View are not interchangeable views of the same program. Depending on the tool and version, you can measure, jump back in time, draw elevation profiles or walk along the fence at eye level – or you can’t. This comparison shows which tool answers which question when scouting spots, how to combine them and where their limits are.

If you are looking for a step-by-step exploration of an unfamiliar airport, you will find it in the guide Exploring airports in advance with Google Maps, Earth and Street View. This article is about the direct tool comparison.

The short answer

For the quick check of a spot, you use Google Maps: satellite view for the location, right-click measuring for the distance to the runway, Street View for the view from the path. For in-depth analysis, Google Earth Pro on the desktop is the strongest tool, because it is the only version that combines historical imagery via a timeline, elevation profiles, measurements on 3D buildings and a sunlight simulation. Google Earth for web and the Earth app are handy for collecting and marking but less deep. None of the tools tells you whether a path is open today – you settle that with current info and on site.

The four tools at a glance

Even though they all draw on similar aerial imagery, the tools have different strengths. The following table summarizes the functions relevant to spotters (as of October 2026; Google changes features and menus regularly).

Function	Google Maps	Google Earth Pro (desktop)	Google Earth for web	Google Earth app
Satellite imagery	yes	yes	yes	yes
3D terrain and buildings	yes, depending on region	yes	yes	yes
Measure distance	yes, by right-click on a computer	yes, path, polygon, circle, 3D path, 3D polygon	yes	yes, distance and area
Elevation profile along a line	no	yes, for paths	not like in Earth Pro	no, only elevation of a point
Historical aerial imagery	no	yes, timeline with slider	depending on version	depending on version
Sunlight simulation	no	yes, with time slider	no	no
Street View	yes, with older dates	yes	yes	yes
Import and export data	via your own lists and My Maps	yes, KML/KMZ and GIS formats such as shapefiles	via projects	via projects
Best use	quick check, directions	analysis at the desk	collecting and sharing spots	looking things up on the go

Important for Pro users: Google announces on its version overview that the download of Google Earth Pro will no longer be offered from June 25, 2027. Until then, the desktop version is available for Windows, Mac and Linux.

Google Maps: the quick first check

You usually have Google Maps open anyway to plan the route. For spotters, there is more in it than just the route.

Reading the satellite view

Switch the layer to satellite and zoom in on the airport. You immediately see the runway axes, the thresholds with their markings, taxiways, apron and terminal. The runway numbers at the thresholds tell you the orientation – exactly how that works is explained in the article on runway designations at airports. Then you scan the edges: dirt tracks along the fence, hills in the extension of the runway, parking lots, vantage points.

Measuring distance

On a computer, you right-click a point and choose Measure distance. Each further click sets a point, and the total distance appears at the bottom in kilometers and miles. You can move points or remove them again with a click. In Google Maps’ lite mode, measuring does not work.

The distance between your position and the middle of the runway is one of the most important numbers in scouting: it decides which focal length you need. A few hundred meters of distance is quite doable with a typical telephoto zoom; much larger distances make pictures prone to heat haze. Which lenses suit which distances is explained in the guide on the right focal length for plane spotting.

Lists and your own maps

You save interesting points in Google Maps in your own lists. If you want more structure, use Google My Maps to create a map of your own with layers – for example one each for spots, parking and fallback locations. How to use such maps for your sightings as well is described in the article Visualizing sightings and spots on a map.

Google Earth Pro: the analysis tool

Once a candidate is found, the actual vetting begins. Google Earth Pro on the desktop offers functions for this that you can’t get as compactly anywhere else.

Historical imagery

Via View › Historical Imagery or the clock icon above the 3D view, you open a timeline. With the slider you switch to older aerial images of the same place. That is valuable for spotters for two reasons:

• Judging image age: You see whether the current image is really current. If a construction site at the terminal is finished in the newest image but not in the older one, you know which phase the capture comes from.
• Spotting changes: New fences, noise barriers, reforested areas or rerouted paths often only show up in comparison. A spot praised in old forums can be overgrown or fenced off today.

Measuring in 2D and 3D

The ruler in Earth Pro can do more than a simple distance. It measures paths, polygons and circles on the ground, plus 3D paths between buildings and the ground and 3D polygons, with which you determine the height, width and area of 3D buildings. For spotters, that means: you estimate whether a hangar or a parking garage between you and the runway blocks the view and how tall a building is on whose roof an observation deck sits.

Elevation profile

For every path you draw, Earth Pro shows a profile with slope and elevation differences via Edit › Show Elevation Profile. Draw a path from your possible position to the runway and check whether a crest, an embankment or a dip lies in between. Especially for spots on approach, such as on hills in the runway extension, this helps you understand why an elevated point is so popular. The Munich Airport visitors’ hill (Besucherhügel) is a good practice object: draw a profile from the hill to the runway and compare it with a point on level ground next to it.

Sunlight simulation

Via the sun icon, you display the sunlight for the current location in Earth Pro. With the time slider you follow how light and shadow move across terrain and 3D buildings over the course of the day, including sunrise and sunset depending on the date. That way you get a rough idea of when a terminal building casts its shadow on the taxiways. For the exact light direction, specialized tools are more practical – you will find an overview in the comparison of sun position apps, and the calculation logic in the guide Planning around sun position.

Import and export

Earth Pro reads and writes KML and imports GIS data, such as shapefiles. If you have spots from other sources as a file or want to pass on your own markers, this is the cleanest way. Free map data can also be overlaid this way – how to use OpenStreetMap for paths, fences and airport infrastructure is explained in the article OpenStreetMap for spotters.

Google Earth for web and as an app

The web version runs directly in the browser and offers high-resolution satellite imagery, 3D terrain and buildings in many cities, and Street View. In addition there are tools for creating your own maps and for collaborating on projects. For spotters, it is mainly a good place to put together a list of spots for a tour and share it with friends.

The app for Android and iOS is your companion on the go. It measures distances and areas and shows the elevation of a tapped point. According to Google’s help, it does not calculate elevation differences between two points, and in the 3D view measurements can be less accurate – for reliable values you switch to the top-down view.

Street View: the view at eye level

Satellite images show you the world from above. Whether you can really look over the fence from a path is only revealed by Street View. On a computer, you drag the Pegman onto the map – it has to land on a blue line or a blue or orange dot. Blue lines are street captures, dots stand for individual panoramas, often uploaded by users.

What you check in Street View

• Fence height and screening: Is the fence a chain-link you can shoot through, or an opaque wall? Tips for the first case are in the article Shooting through the fence.
• Vegetation: Hedges and bushes grow. A view that is clear in winter can be closed in summer.
• Paths and signs: No-through-traffic signs, no-stopping signs and notice boards are often legible. What applies to parking at spotter locations is in the guide Parking at spotter locations.
• Ground: Can you stand there without ending up in a ditch or on a bike path?

The capture date counts

Via See more dates, you open a gallery of older captures of the same place, if there are any. That tells you how old the panorama is and what has changed. Especially around airports, where fences are renewed and security areas expanded, an image several years old can mislead. Street View coverage and age vary greatly by region; away from major roads it is often missing entirely.

Street-level alternatives

If Google has no images, it is worth looking at other services. Apple Maps offers a similar street view with its “Look Around” feature in some regions, and Mapillary collects street images from volunteers. Both are patchy but sometimes fill in exactly the dirt tracks Google didn’t drive.

How to combine the tools

You get the most out of it when you use the tools one after another – from rough overview to precise vetting.

Step 6 also includes the question of which runway is even in use on your day. A perfect position on the wrong side of the runway gets you nothing – the guide Understanding the runway direction in use explains how to estimate that beforehand. Spotting guides are a useful complement, as in the article Spotterguide.net and other spotting guides, as are the methods from Finding spots at an unfamiliar airport.

Which tool for which situation?

Practical examples: well-known spots on screen

A good way to get to know the tools is to look at spots you already know or that are well documented. That way you learn how satellite imagery and reality fit together.

• Affenfelsen at Hamburg Airport: Compare the aerial image and Street View with the description in the spot profile and see how the fence and the view toward the runway look in both. The airfield itself is shown in the profile of Hamburg Airport.
• Munich Airport visitors’ hill (Besucherhügel): Ideal for the elevation profile in Earth Pro, because the raised position stands out immediately in the profile. You can recognize the two parallel runways at Munich Airport at a glance in the satellite image.
• Zeppelinheim viewing platform: Here the 3D view helps you understand the platform’s position relative to the runway system at Frankfurt Airport.

Afterward you transfer the same method to an airport you have never visited. For smaller fields and gliding sites, the article Finding airfields on maps also helps.

Limits and pitfalls

• Outdated images: Aerial images can be years old, and so can Street View panoramas. Always check the age before basing a decision on them.
• 3D models are approximations: Buildings and terrain in the 3D view are calculated, not surveyed. Fences, poles and trees are often missing or distorted.
• Oblique views deceive: From an angle, distances look shorter or longer. It is best to measure in the top-down view.
• User panoramas are not a permit: A photo from an earth embankment does not mean the embankment is publicly accessible. What is allowed at the airport fence is in Is plane spotting legal?, and rules of conduct in Proper behavior at the airport fence.
• Aids on site: Whether you may bring a ladder or a step to see over the fence is covered in the guide Ladder, step and tripod at the airport fence.

Conclusion

Google Maps, Google Earth and Street View complement each other rather than replace each other. Maps gives you an overview and the distance to the runway in minutes, Earth Pro shows image age, terrain and building heights, the web and app versions help with collecting and on the go, and Street View puts you at the fence at eye level. If you use all the tools one after another and keep an eye on the capture date, you will make a wasted trip to an airport far less often. You still do the last check – whether the path is open and the light is right – on site. An overview of further helpers for your hobby is given by the comparison of plane spotting apps.