Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Erigavo, Somalia:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from WAL to ERA:
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- About this route
- WAL Airport Information
- ERA Airport Information
- Facts about WAL
- Facts about ERA
- 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 ERA
- List of Nearest Airports to ERA
- Map of Furthest Airports from ERA
- List of Furthest Airports from ERA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Erigavo Airport (ERA), Erigavo, Somalia would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,453 miles (or 11,995 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 Erigavo 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 Erigavo Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
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: | ERA / HCMU |
Airport Name: | Erigavo Airport |
Location: | Erigavo, Somalia |
GPS Coordinates: | 10°38'31"N by 47°23'17"E |
Area Served: | Erigavo, Somalia |
Operator/Owner: | Somali Civil Aviation Authority |
Elevation: | 5720 feet (1,743 meters) |
View all routes: | Routes from ERA |
More Information: | ERA Maps & Info |
Facts about Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL):
- 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.
- The first payload launched into orbit from Wallops Island was Explorer IX, atop a Scout rocket, on February 15, 1961.
- 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 WFF mobile range assets have been used to support rocket launches from locations in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, South America, Africa, Europe, Australia, and at sea.
- 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 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.
- AFSS is a project to develop an autonomous on-board system that could augment or replace traditional ground-commanded Range Safety flight termination systems.
- The WFF Research Airport is located on the Main Base.
- The Wallops Visitor Center has a variety of hands-on exhibits and hosts weekly educational activities and programs to enable children to explore and learn about the technologies designed and used by NASA researchers and scientists.
- 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 Erigavo Airport (ERA):
- The closest airport to Erigavo Airport (ERA) is Bender Qassim International Airport (BSA), which is located 127 miles (205 kilometers) ENE of ERA.
- Because of Erigavo Airport's high elevation of 5,720 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at ERA. Combined with a high temperature, this could make ERA a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- The furthest airport from Erigavo Airport (ERA) is Atuona Airport (AUQ), which is located 11,997 miles (19,308 kilometers) away in Atuona, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia.