Nonstop flight route between Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia and Wallops Island, Virginia, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Hervey Bay Airport (HVB), Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia and Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,497 miles (or 15,284 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 Hervey Bay 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 Hervey Bay 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 Hervey Bay Airport (HVB):

• The new airport, which is located 5 nautical miles southeast of Pialba, opened in mid-2005, after the existing airfield underwent an $11.5 million upgrade which included the construction of a new terminal building and the extension of the existing 1,500 m runway to 2,000 m to accommodate jet services from Virgin Australia.
• Because of Hervey Bay Airport's relatively low elevation of 60 feet, planes can take off or land at Hervey Bay 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 Hervey Bay Airport (HVB) is Agostinho Neto Airport (NTO), which is located 11,861 miles (19,088 kilometers) away in Ponta do Sol, Santo Antão, Cape Verde.
• Hervey Bay Airport was ranked 38th in Australia for the number of revenue passengers served in financial year 2010-2011.
• The closest airport to Hervey Bay Airport (HVB) is Maryborough Airport (MBH), which is located only 17 miles (27 kilometers) SW of HVB.
• Hervey Bay Airport (HVB) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL):

• The Wallops mobile range instrumentation includes telemetry, radar, command and power systems.
• Weather measurements and predictions are critical to all Research Airport operations, rocket and balloon launches, and in safely conducting hazardous operations on the ground.
• 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.
• 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.
• Since 2001, engineers at NASA Wallops Flight Facility have been developing new range technologies, systems and approaches to improve the cost and responsiveness of launch and flight test activities, within the constraints of available funding and program schedules.
• The first payload launched into orbit from Wallops Island was Explorer IX, atop a Scout rocket, on February 15, 1961.
• In the early years, research at Wallops concentrated on obtaining aerodynamic data at transonic and low supersonic speeds.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of WAL.