Nonstop flight route between Mineral Wells, Texas, United States and Wallops Island, Virginia, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mineral Wells Airport (MWL), Mineral Wells, Texas, United States and Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,318 miles (or 2,122 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 relatively short distance between Mineral Wells Airport and Wallops Flight Facility Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Mineral Wells Airport (MWL):

• Because of Mineral Wells Airport's relatively low elevation of 974 feet, planes can take off or land at Mineral Wells 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 Mineral Wells Airport (MWL) is Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base (FWH), which is located 36 miles (58 kilometers) E of MWL.
• The furthest airport from Mineral Wells Airport (MWL) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,980 miles (17,670 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• Mineral Wells Airport (MWL) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Mineral Wells Airport", other names for MWL include "(former Wolters Air Force Base)" and "(former Wolters Army Airfield)".
• In September 1956 the base became the Primary Helicopter Center directed by the United States Army.
• The Vietnam War increased the need for pilots, and the base became the home for training not just army personnel, but also helicopter pilots for the Marine Corps in 1968 and for the Air Force in 1970.
• Mineral Wells Airport is a public airport three miles southeast of Mineral Wells, Texas.

Facts about Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL):

• 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.
• On September 6, 2013, the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer was launched from Wallops, atop a Minotaur V rocket.
• The Wallops Research Range includes ground-based and mobile systems, and a range control center.
• 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.
• AFSS is a project to develop an autonomous on-board system that could augment or replace traditional ground-commanded Range Safety flight termination systems.
• 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.
• 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 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.