Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Beaufort County Airport (BFT), Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 481 miles (or 773 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 Wallops Flight Facility Airport and Beaufort County Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL):

• 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.
• LCT2 is an effort to produce a relatively low-cost transceiver to allow launch vehicles to communicate through NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System after they have gone over the horizon from the launch site.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Beaufort County Airport (BFT):

• The closest airport to Beaufort County Airport (BFT) is Hilton Head Airport (HHH), which is located only 13 miles (22 kilometers) SSW of BFT.
• Beaufort County Airport (BFT) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Beaufort County Airport (BFT) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,522 miles (18,542 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In addition to being known as "Beaufort County Airport", another name for BFT is "ARW".
• There is currently no scheduled passenger service to Beaufort County.
• Because of Beaufort County Airport's relatively low elevation of 9 feet, planes can take off or land at Beaufort County 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.
• This airport is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation facility.