Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Beckley, West Virginia, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Raleigh County Memorial Airport (BKW), Beckley, West Virginia, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 309 miles (or 497 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 Raleigh County Memorial 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):

• The Wallops Research Range includes ground-based and mobile systems, and a range control center.
• 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.
• 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 closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of WAL.
• In 1959, NASA acquired the former Naval Air Station Chincoteague, and engineering and administrative activities were moved to this location.
• 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.
• 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.

Facts about Raleigh County Memorial Airport (BKW):

• As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 3,630 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 2,626 enplanements in 2009, and 2,429 in 2010.
• The closest airport to Raleigh County Memorial Airport (BKW) is Mercer County Airport (BLF), which is located 34 miles (55 kilometers) S of BKW.
• The furthest airport from Raleigh County Memorial Airport (BKW) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,491 miles (18,494 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
• In 2005, the airport was the least busy airport with scheduled airline service in the United States, with 2,578 passengers using the facility that year.
• Raleigh County Memorial Airport (BKW) has 2 runways.