Nonstop flight route between Pierre, South Dakota, United States and Wallops Island, Virginia, United States:
Departure Airport:
![Get maps and more information about Pierre Regional Airport Get airport maps and more information about Pierre Regional Airport](images/takeoff-icon.gif)
Arrival Airport:
![Get maps and more information about Wallops Flight Facility Airport Get airport maps and more information about Wallops Flight Facility Airport](images/landing-icon.gif)
Distance from PIR to WAL:
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- About this route
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- WAL Airport Information
- Facts about PIR
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- List of Furthest Airports from WAL
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Pierre Regional Airport (PIR), Pierre, South Dakota, United States and Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,359 miles (or 2,188 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 Pierre Regional Airport and Wallops Flight Facility Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | PIR / KPIR |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Pierre, South Dakota, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 44°22'58"N by 100°17'9"W |
Area Served: | Pierre, South Dakota |
Operator/Owner: | City of Pierre |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 1744 feet (532 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from PIR |
More Information: | PIR Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | WAL / KWAL |
Airport Name: | Wallops Flight Facility Airport |
Location: | Wallops Island, Virginia, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 37°56'24"N by 75°27'59"W |
Elevation: | 0 feet (0 meters) |
View all routes: | Routes from WAL |
More Information: | WAL Maps & Info |
Facts about Pierre Regional Airport (PIR):
- A new terminal has been designed, and construction began in late Spring, 2011.
- Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 15,983 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 13,692 in 2009 and 14,686 in 2010.
- During World War II the airfield was used by the United States Army Air Forces by Air Technical Service Command as a maintenance and supply depot.
- In addition to being known as "Pierre Regional Airport", another name for PIR is "Pierre Army Airfield".
- The furthest airport from Pierre Regional Airport (PIR) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,493 miles (16,887 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
- Pierre Regional Airport (PIR) has 2 runways.
- The closest airport to Pierre Regional Airport (PIR) is Mobridge Municipal Airport (MBG), which is located 81 miles (130 kilometers) N of PIR.
Facts about Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL):
- Weather measurements and predictions are critical to all Research Airport operations, rocket and balloon launches, and in safely conducting hazardous operations on the ground.
- The NASA Wallops Flight Facility has alliances with a number of organizations important to its mission and future growth.
- The closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of WAL.
- On September 6, 2013, the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer was launched from Wallops, atop a Minotaur V rocket.
- AFSS is a project to develop an autonomous on-board system that could augment or replace traditional ground-commanded Range Safety flight termination systems.
- LCT2 is an effort to produce a relatively low-cost transceiver to allow launch vehicles to communicate through NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System after they have gone over the horizon from the launch site.
- The first payload launched into orbit from Wallops Island was Explorer IX, atop a Scout rocket, on February 15, 1961.
- 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 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.
- In the early years, research at Wallops concentrated on obtaining aerodynamic data at transonic and low supersonic speeds.