The airspace kmz's I've seen have only been for the US & very limited. Not sure if anyone's created any for elsewhere in the world...
They would have to be regularly & scrupulously updated to be of any practical use of course. You could use 'SketchUp' to produce the 3D polygons quite easily I would imagine though.
My suggestion however is actually to place the route ('Path' in Google-speak) on & fly it at the appropriate levels you intend to fly at & then save it as a 'Tour'....with no other information. Terrain exaggeration you set to something suitable for the area. This simulates more closely what you're going to experience from the cockpit....there are no airspace boundaries marked in the sky after all...
It is the reading of the terrain & highlighting of prominent features from the view you're going to have where I find it really useful. Not everyone has a feel for topography & I'm not sure it is adequately emphasised in the PPL syllabus. We spend so much time learning all the various nav techniques & flying time is so expensive, we seem to forget this fundamental element of navigating somewhere along the line...
Unfortunately instructors probably don't always have the time to run through an entire journey like this on GE with their students, but it's amazing how useful it can be to ask "so, what do see that sings out to you at this point in the journey" for instance.
There is always something, even on the dullest routes, whether it be subtle topography changes or a far mast, minor water feature, confluence of linear features. It may not confirm a locationas such, but it can add to your confidence or otherwise of your general position.
In poor viz, that 3D "mental image" of what the route should look like can be invaluable. It's the next step beyond reading "ground-to-map" if you like (the ground never lies, but the map can...). If you think about it, it's what you do in your local area....you may well be navigating between some pretty minor features...roundabouts, ponds, individual churches. These aren't marked on the map, even on the airfield plates, but they are marked on your brain.
The GPS & the map itself become a back-up to keeping Mk1 eyeball outside & looking for stuff :-) The GPS is a wonderful get-home, but some have delays of several seconds in updating position & you should know where you are to start with, right?!?
I really wonder how many PPL's follow the military rule of thumb of roughly 3 hours prep for 1 hour's flying & how many of these incidents start on the ground?? The attitude of certain clubs to PPL mentoring (even instructor mentoring if judging by this story...) has got to be questioned. Don't the people running some of these organisations remember what if felt like to plan your very first solo navs after your PPL? Bloody frightening & lonely experience for many people that's for sure.
Also find it surprising how much emphasis put on the 1:500K map in the UK. Unless you're flying a 250kt hot-ship, the 1:250K is perfectly usable for most GA speeds. Ok, you might need two for a very long nav, but the extra information (runway layouts, topo, small masts, feature details...including exact airspace boundary info) has got to be worth the extra paper. Any comments?
In areas with few features, eg. South Africa, it's the only map they use. Wonder if using the 1:250K around London would avoid some of these kinds of incidents??
BFA