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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Catalina AirportBuffalo Springs Airport (CIB), Avalon, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,410 miles (or 3,878 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 Catalina AirportBuffalo Springs 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• The WFF Research Airport is located on the Main Base.
• 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.
• 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 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 WFF Main Base is located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia on the Delmarva Peninsula about 5 miles west of Chincoteague, Virginia.
• Weather measurements and predictions are critical to all Research Airport operations, rocket and balloon launches, and in safely conducting hazardous operations on the ground.
• 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.
• The schedule for sounding rocket launches from WFF is posted on its official Web site.

Facts about Catalina AirportBuffalo Springs Airport (CIB):

• In addition to being known as "Catalina AirportBuffalo Springs Airport", another name for CIB is "AVX".
• The airport originally opened as "Buffalo Springs Airport" in the late 1930s and was made by leveling off the top of a hill.
• The closest airport to Catalina AirportBuffalo Springs Airport (CIB) is Zamperini FieldLomita Landing Strip (TOA), which is located 28 miles (45 kilometers) N of CIB.
• The furthest airport from Catalina AirportBuffalo Springs Airport (CIB) is Pierrefonds Airport (ZSE), which is located 11,521 miles (18,541 kilometers) away in Saint-Pierre, Réunion.
• Catalina AirportBuffalo Springs Airport (CIB) currently has only 1 runway.