Nonstop flight route between Chicago/Prospect Heights/Wheeling, Illinois, United States and Wallops Island, Virginia, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Chicago Executive Airport (PWK), Chicago/Prospect Heights/Wheeling, Illinois, United States and Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 717 miles (or 1,155 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 Chicago Executive 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 Chicago Executive Airport (PWK):

• The furthest airport from Chicago Executive Airport (PWK) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,069 miles (17,813 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• Tenants of the airport include two national fixed base operators, Atlantic Aviation and Signature Flight Support, who provide fueling and handling for transient aircraft and a significant portion of the locally based aircraft.
• The closest airport to Chicago Executive Airport (PWK) is Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) S of PWK.
• The airport can handle executive jets in the 20-seat range, such as the Grumman Gulfstream and the Bombardier Challenger, and larger aircraft occasionally visit.
• Chicago Executive Airport (PWK) has 3 runways.
• Charlie Priester kept an FBO at the airport along with a charter company called Priester Aviation.
• Because of Chicago Executive Airport's relatively low elevation of 647 feet, planes can take off or land at Chicago Executive 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.

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.
• The first payload launched into orbit from Wallops Island was Explorer IX, atop a Scout rocket, on February 15, 1961.
• 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 closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of WAL.
• Wallops Flight Facility, located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, is operated by the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, primarily as a rocket launch site to support science and exploration missions for N.A.S.A.
• Major Wallops facilities include FAA-certified runways.
• In 1959, NASA acquired the former Naval Air Station Chincoteague, and engineering and administrative activities were moved to this location.
• 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.
• 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.