Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Decatur, Alabama, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from WAL to DCU:
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- About this route
- WAL Airport Information
- DCU Airport Information
- Facts about WAL
- Facts about DCU
- Map of Nearest Airports to WAL
- List of Nearest Airports to WAL
- Map of Furthest Airports from WAL
- List of Furthest Airports from WAL
- Map of Nearest Airports to DCU
- List of Nearest Airports to DCU
- Map of Furthest Airports from DCU
- List of Furthest Airports from DCU
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Pryor Field Regional Airport (DCU), Decatur, Alabama, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 678 miles (or 1,091 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 Pryor Field Regional Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
Departure Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | WAL / KWAL |
| Airport Name: | Wallops Flight Facility Airport |
| Location: | Wallops Island, Virginia, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 37°56'24"N by 75°27'59"W |
| Elevation: | 0 feet (0 meters) |
| View all routes: | Routes from WAL |
| More Information: | WAL Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
| IATA / ICAO Codes: | DCU / KDCU |
| Airport Name: | Pryor Field Regional Airport |
| Location: | Decatur, Alabama, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 34°39'15"N by 86°56'43"W |
| Area Served: | Decatur, Alabama |
| Operator/Owner: | Decatur/Athens Airport Authority |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 592 feet (180 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from DCU |
| More Information: | DCU Maps & Info |
Facts about Wallops Flight Facility Airport (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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 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 Main Base is located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia on the Delmarva Peninsula about 5 miles west of Chincoteague, Virginia.
- In 1959, NASA acquired the former Naval Air Station Chincoteague, and engineering and administrative activities were moved to this location.
- Major Wallops facilities include FAA-certified runways.
- AFSS is a project to develop an autonomous on-board system that could augment or replace traditional ground-commanded Range Safety flight termination systems.
Facts about Pryor Field Regional Airport (DCU):
- Pryor Field Regional Airport is a public airport located three miles northeast of the central business district of Decatur and south of Athens, in Limestone County, Alabama, United States.
- Flying training was performed with Fairchild PT-19s as the primary trainer.
- Pryor Field Regional Airport (DCU) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest airport to Pryor Field Regional Airport (DCU) is Huntsville International Airport (HSV), which is located only 10 miles (16 kilometers) E of DCU.
- Because of Pryor Field Regional Airport's relatively low elevation of 592 feet, planes can take off or land at Pryor Field Regional 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.
- Pryor Field Regional Airport covers an area of 200 acres which contains one asphalt paved runway measuring 6,107 x 100 ft.
- The furthest airport from Pryor Field Regional Airport (DCU) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,180 miles (17,992 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
- The Pryor Field Regional Airport receives $30,000 annually each from the cities of Athens and Decatur and from the county commissions of Morgan and Limestone
