Nonstop flight route between Royan, France and Wallops Island, Virginia, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Royan - Médis Aerodrome (RYN), Royan, France and Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,735 miles (or 6,011 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 Royan - Médis Aerodrome 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 Royan - Médis Aerodrome 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 Royan - Médis Aerodrome (RYN):

• Royan - Médis Aerodrome (RYN) has 2 runways.
• The furthest airport from Royan - Médis Aerodrome (RYN) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Royan - Médis Aerodrome (meaning Royan - Médis Aerodrome is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,182 miles (19,605 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Royan - Médis Aerodrome (RYN) is Cognac - Châteaubernard Air Base (CNG), which is located 32 miles (51 kilometers) E of RYN.
• In addition to being known as "Royan - Médis Aerodrome", another name for RYN is "Aérodrome de Royan-Médis".
• Because of Royan - Médis Aerodrome's relatively low elevation of 72 feet, planes can take off or land at Royan - Médis Aerodrome 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):

• The WFF Main Base is located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia on the Delmarva Peninsula about 5 miles west of Chincoteague, Virginia.
• 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.
• Weather measurements and predictions are critical to all Research Airport operations, rocket and balloon launches, and in safely conducting hazardous operations on the ground.
• 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.
• 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 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.