Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Saint-Étienne / Bouthéon, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Saint-Étienne–Bouthéon Airport (EBU), Saint-Étienne / Bouthéon, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,974 miles (or 6,396 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 Saint-Étienne–Bouthéon Airport, 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 Saint-Étienne–Bouthéon Airport. 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):

• 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.
• Weather measurements and predictions are critical to all Research Airport operations, rocket and balloon launches, and in safely conducting hazardous operations on the ground.
• AFSS is a project to develop an autonomous on-board system that could augment or replace traditional ground-commanded Range Safety flight termination systems.
• 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.
• In 1959, NASA acquired the former Naval Air Station Chincoteague, and engineering and administrative activities were moved to this location.
• The first payload launched into orbit from Wallops Island was Explorer IX, atop a Scout rocket, on February 15, 1961.
• The closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of WAL.
• Major Wallops facilities include FAA-certified runways.
• The Wallops Research Range includes ground-based and mobile systems, and a range control center.
• 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.

Facts about Saint-Étienne–Bouthéon Airport (EBU):

• The furthest airport from Saint-Étienne–Bouthéon Airport (EBU) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Saint-Étienne–Bouthéon Airport (meaning Saint-Étienne–Bouthéon Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,312 miles (19,814 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Saint-Étienne–Bouthéon Airport (EBU) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Saint-Étienne–Bouthéon Airport", another name for EBU is "Aéroport de Saint-Étienne – Bouthéon".
• The closest airport to Saint-Étienne–Bouthéon Airport (EBU) is Lyon–Bron Airport (LYN), which is located 34 miles (54 kilometers) ENE of EBU.