Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Avalon, Victoria, Australia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Avalon Airport (AVV), Avalon, Victoria, Australia would travel a Great Circle distance of 10,295 miles (or 16,569 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 Wallops Flight Facility Airport and Avalon 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 Wallops Flight Facility Airport and Avalon 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 Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL):

• The first payload launched into orbit from Wallops Island was Explorer IX, atop a Scout rocket, on February 15, 1961.
• 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 WFF mobile range assets have been used to support rocket launches from locations in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, South America, Africa, Europe, Australia, and at sea.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• The Wallops mobile range instrumentation includes telemetry, radar, command and power systems.
• 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.

Facts about Avalon Airport (AVV):

• In July 2011, the Civil Aviation Authority grounded all Tiger flights for 5 days, after a series of breaches by the airline, including a flight from Sydney to Avalon Airport where it flew too close to the terminal building as it approached the runway.
• In 1985 the Government Aircraft Factories changed its name to Aerospace Technologies of Australia.
• Because of Avalon Airport's relatively low elevation of 115 feet, planes can take off or land at Avalon 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.
• Avalon Airport (AVV) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Avalon Airport (AVV) is Flores Airport (FLW), which is nearly antipodal to Avalon Airport (meaning Avalon Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Flores Airport), and is located 12,165 miles (19,578 kilometers) away in Flores Island, Azores, Portugal.
• In addition to being known as "Avalon Airport", another name for AVV is "Melbourne/Avalon".
• The current terminal facility is approximately 4,500 square metres in area and houses four gates capable of servicing aircraft up to and including the size of the Airbus A321.
• The closest airport to Avalon Airport (AVV) is Geelong Airport (GEX), which is located only 16 miles (25 kilometers) SE of AVV.
• Unlike Melbourne Airport, which is governed by the Commonwealth Airports Act, Avalon Airport falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defence, and is privately leased by Linfox Group.