If you're like most people, you don't have the wherewithal for a helicopter ride around Manhattan just for kicks. You probably also have a computer and some time to kill. Lucky for you there is Pixelcase's Aeriel Tour of New York. GoogleEarth is fun and all, but this is ridiculous.
Pixelcase is an Australian company specializing in virtual tours and presentations, and it apparently made the Aerial Tour to showcase its skills. The tour offers seven options from which to begin your flight: Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge, Times Square, The Empire State Building, The Chrysler Building, and Downtown. Glare spots and the like add realism, and the zoom never loses quality, though you can't get in quite as close you might like. Still the end result is you'll be gawking at Gotham like a tourist saying "Gee Maw, look at all them tall buildings."
The interactive views are all pretty spectacular, composed of high-quality panoramic photographs of the city. The controls work pretty much like GoogleEarth's, giving the viewer the ability to zoom in and out and rotate the view, though it's kind of easy to get yourself into a tailspin. Nothing like sitting at your desk in the morning and getting airsick. So watch out for that.
