Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from WAL to FBM:
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- About this route
- WAL Airport Information
- FBM Airport Information
- Facts about WAL
- Facts about FBM
- 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 FBM
- List of Nearest Airports to FBM
- Map of Furthest Airports from FBM
- List of Furthest Airports from FBM
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Lubumbashi International Airport (FBM), Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,413 miles (or 11,931 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 Lubumbashi International 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 Lubumbashi International 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: | FBM / FZQA |
Airport Name: | Lubumbashi International Airport |
Location: | Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of the Congo |
GPS Coordinates: | 11°35'28"S by 27°31'51"E |
Area Served: | Lubumbashi |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 4295 feet (1,309 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from FBM |
More Information: | FBM Maps & Info |
Facts about Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL):
- The first payload launched into orbit from Wallops Island was Explorer IX, atop a Scout rocket, on February 15, 1961.
- In 1959, NASA acquired the former Naval Air Station Chincoteague, and engineering and administrative activities were moved to this location.
- 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.
- 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.
- Major Wallops facilities include FAA-certified runways.
- 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 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.
- Wallops Flight Facility, located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, is operated by the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, primarily as a rocket launch site to support science and exploration missions for N.A.S.A.
- 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.
- 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 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.
Facts about Lubumbashi International Airport (FBM):
- Lubumbashi International Airport (FBM) currently has only 1 runway.
- The furthest airport from Lubumbashi International Airport (FBM) is Hilo International Airport (ITO), which is located 11,850 miles (19,070 kilometers) away in Hilo, Hawaii, United States.
- The closest airport to Lubumbashi International Airport (FBM) is Kasompe Airport (CGJ), which is located 72 miles (116 kilometers) SSE of FBM.
- Lubumbashi International Airport was founded in colonial times as the Elisabethville Airport.
- Because of Lubumbashi International Airport's high elevation of 4,295 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at FBM. Combined with a high temperature, this could make FBM a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.