Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Cognac / Châteaubernard, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Cognac - Châteaubernard Air Base (CNG), Cognac / Châteaubernard, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,764 miles (or 6,058 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 Cognac - Châteaubernard Air Base, 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 Cognac - Châteaubernard Air Base. 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):

• 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 first payload launched into orbit from Wallops Island was Explorer IX, atop a Scout rocket, on February 15, 1961.
• 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.
• 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 Cognac - Châteaubernard Air Base (CNG):

• Cognac - Châteaubernard Air Base (CNG) has 2 runways.
• Because of Cognac - Châteaubernard Air Base's relatively low elevation of 102 feet, planes can take off or land at Cognac - Châteaubernard 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 closest airport to Cognac - Châteaubernard Air Base (CNG) is Angoulême - Brie - Champniers Airport (ANG), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) E of CNG.
• In addition to being known as "Cognac - Châteaubernard Air Base", another name for CNG is "Base aérienne 709 Cognac-Châteaubernard".
• The furthest airport from Cognac - Châteaubernard Air Base (CNG) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Cognac - Châteaubernard Air Base (meaning Cognac - Châteaubernard Air Base is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,208 miles (19,647 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.