Nonstop flight route between Uden, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands and Wallops Island, Virginia, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Volkel Air Base (UDE), Uden, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands and Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,878 miles (or 6,240 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 Volkel Air Base 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 Volkel Air Base 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 Volkel Air Base (UDE):

• The closest airport to Volkel Air Base (UDE) is Weeze Airport (NRN), which is located only 20 miles (32 kilometers) E of UDE.
• It was believed that since the early 1960s, USAF nuclear weapons were stored at Volkel Air Base, to be used by the host nation's aircraft.
• Volkel Air Base (UDE) has 2 runways.
• When later that year the south of the Netherlands was liberated, the Royal Air Force took control of the airfield.
• In addition to being known as "Volkel Air Base", other names for UDE include "Vliegbasis Volkel" and "(Advanced Landing Ground B-80)".
• The furthest airport from Volkel Air Base (UDE) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,886 miles (19,128 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of Volkel Air Base's relatively low elevation of 72 feet, planes can take off or land at Volkel Air Base 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 airport has two parallel runways, both in the 06/24 direction, and both being just over 3,020 metres long.

Facts about Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL):

• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• Weather measurements and predictions are critical to all Research Airport operations, rocket and balloon launches, and in safely conducting hazardous operations on the ground.
• In the early years, research at Wallops concentrated on obtaining aerodynamic data at transonic and low supersonic speeds.
• In 1945, NASA's predecessor agency, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, established a rocket launch site on Wallops Island under the direction of the Langley Research Center.