Nonstop flight route between Ikela, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Wallops Island, Virginia, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ikela Airport (IKL), Ikela, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,746 miles (or 10,856 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 Ikela 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 Ikela 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 Ikela Airport (IKL):

• The closest airport to Ikela Airport (IKL) is Lodja Airport (LJA), which is located 152 miles (245 kilometers) S of IKL.
• The furthest airport from Ikela Airport (IKL) is Cassidy International Airport (CXI), which is nearly antipodal to Ikela Airport (meaning Ikela Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Cassidy International Airport), and is located 12,367 miles (19,903 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Kiribati.

Facts about Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL):

• 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.
• 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 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.
• The first payload launched into orbit from Wallops Island was Explorer IX, atop a Scout rocket, on February 15, 1961.
• The WFF Research Airport is located on the Main Base.
• The closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of WAL.
• The WFF mobile range assets have been used to support rocket launches from locations in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, South America, Africa, Europe, Australia, and at sea.
• The schedule for sounding rocket launches from WFF is posted on its official Web site.
• In the early years, research at Wallops concentrated on obtaining aerodynamic data at transonic and low supersonic speeds.