One of the more mundane but very useful features of google earth is the ability to measure distances: -
- between two points in a straight line
- or along a winding path
To access this feature
- first open the map in google earth at the place you are wishing to measure
- on the toolbar select the measure option
- you will see a small window appear as per the image above
- now select line or path to select the type of measurement
- using your mouse mark the start and end point for a line or mark the complete journey for a path
You will now see the distance shown in the gray window on the screen.
Is that better than getting out your pencil, ruler and calculator? I could never work out the scale and what I should be dividing by.