Nonstop flight route between Namatanai, Papua New Guinea and Wallops Island, Virginia, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Namatanai Airport (ATN), Namatanai, Papua New Guinea and Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,604 miles (or 13,847 kilometers).

A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the large distance between Namatanai Airport and Wallops Flight Facility Airport, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.

Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between Namatanai Airport and Wallops Flight Facility Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Namatanai Airport (ATN):

• Namatanai Airport (ATN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Namatanai Airport (ATN) is Lihir Island Regional Airport (LNV), which is located 45 miles (72 kilometers) NNE of ATN.
• Because of Namatanai Airport's relatively low elevation of 137 feet, planes can take off or land at Namatanai Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
• The furthest airport from Namatanai Airport (ATN) is Governador Carlos Wilson Airport (FEN), which is located 11,818 miles (19,019 kilometers) away in Fernando de Noronha, Pernambuco, Brazil.

Facts about Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL):

• The Wallops mobile range instrumentation includes telemetry, radar, command and power systems.
• In 1998, the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority, later joined by Maryland, built the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops on land leased from NASA.
• In 1959, NASA acquired the former Naval Air Station Chincoteague, and engineering and administrative activities were moved to this location.
• The WFF Main Base is located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia on the Delmarva Peninsula about 5 miles west of Chincoteague, Virginia.
• The closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of WAL.
• There have been over 16,000 launches from the rocket testing range at Wallops since its founding in 1945 in the quest for information on the flight characteristics of airplanes, launch vehicles, and spacecraft, and to increase the knowledge of the Earth's upper atmosphere and the environment of outer space.
• Because of Wallops Flight Facility Airport's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Wallops Flight Facility Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
• In the early years, research at Wallops concentrated on obtaining aerodynamic data at transonic and low supersonic speeds.
• The furthest airport from Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,785 miles (18,965 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.