Flyover Country App

Have you ever been on a flight, looked out your window and wondered exactly what was below? Flyover Country hopes to change that, allowing you to know exactly where you are at all times.

Available for both Android and iOS, the app is able to be used offline, making it optimum for those long flights where the in-flight WiFi isn’t the greatest. Developed by the National Science Foundation, the app can access geological and geoscience data such as fossil and sample localities, all using your phone’s GPS to determine your location, altitude, speed and direction of travel. The cached data also includes Wikipedia articles, so you can further read about what you’re seeing beneath your flight’s route, from small bodies of water to archaeological sites to the locations of ancient glaciers.

Using the app is easy enough. You can choose your path by selecting two points on the provided map. You can view the path’s cached info right then, or save it for later. Set the app to navigation mode and it will follow you, providing information as you go. In addition to having a flight setting, it also has settings for travel by car and foot, making it an interesting addition to a hiking trip. The app is now worldwide, so you can enjoy it no matter where you are.

The app is still being improved, so there are some obvious changes needed to make it more user-friendly, as well as easier on your phone’s battery life, but the overall concept is both fun and educational.