Nonstop flight route between Tanana, Alaska, United States and Wallops Island, Virginia, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Ralph M. Calhoun Memorial Airport (TAL), Tanana, Alaska, United States and Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,497 miles (or 5,628 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 Ralph M. Calhoun Memorial 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 Ralph M. Calhoun Memorial 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 Ralph M. Calhoun Memorial Airport (TAL):

• The closest airport to Ralph M. Calhoun Memorial Airport (TAL) is Manley Hot Springs Airport (MLY), which is located 44 miles (71 kilometers) ESE of TAL.
• The furthest airport from Ralph M. Calhoun Memorial Airport (TAL) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,280 miles (16,544 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
• Ralph M. Calhoun Memorial Airport (TAL) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Ralph M. Calhoun Memorial Airport's relatively low elevation of 236 feet, planes can take off or land at Ralph M. Calhoun Memorial 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):

• 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.
• On September 6, 2013, the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer was launched from Wallops, atop a Minotaur V rocket.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 Wallops mobile range instrumentation includes telemetry, radar, command and power systems.