Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Lorraine, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Metz–Nancy–Lorraine Airport (ETZ), Lorraine, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,967 miles (or 6,385 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 Metz–Nancy–Lorraine 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 Metz–Nancy–Lorraine 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):

• 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 NASA Wallops Flight Facility has alliances with a number of organizations important to its mission and future growth.
• The WFF Research Airport is located on the Main Base.
• 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.
• In the early years, research at Wallops concentrated on obtaining aerodynamic data at transonic and low supersonic speeds.
• The Wallops Research Range includes ground-based and mobile systems, and a range control center.
• 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 closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of WAL.
• 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.

Facts about Metz–Nancy–Lorraine Airport (ETZ):

• In addition to being known as "Metz–Nancy–Lorraine Airport", another name for ETZ is "Aéroport de Metz-Nancy-Lorraine".
• The closest airport to Metz–Nancy–Lorraine Airport (ETZ) is Saarbrücken Airport (SCN), which is located 42 miles (68 kilometers) ENE of ETZ.
• Metz–Nancy–Lorraine Airport (ETZ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Metz–Nancy–Lorraine Airport (ETZ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Metz–Nancy–Lorraine Airport (meaning Metz–Nancy–Lorraine Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,057 miles (19,404 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of Metz–Nancy–Lorraine Airport's relatively low elevation of 870 feet, planes can take off or land at Metz–Nancy–Lorraine 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.