Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Fürstenfeldbruck, Bavaria, Germany:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base (FEL), Fürstenfeldbruck, Bavaria, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,199 miles (or 6,757 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 Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base, 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 Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base. 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 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 Wallops Research Range includes ground-based and mobile systems, and a range control center.
• The schedule for sounding rocket launches from WFF is posted on its official Web site.
• In 1945, NASA's predecessor agency, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, established a rocket launch site on Wallops Island under the direction of the Langley Research 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.
• In the early years, research at Wallops concentrated on obtaining aerodynamic data at transonic and low supersonic speeds.
• 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 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.

Facts about Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base (FEL):

• In addition to being known as "Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base", another name for FEL is "Flugplatz FürstenfeldbruckAdvanced Landing Ground R-72".
• Fürstenfeldbruck became famous first as the main training base for the German Luftwaffe during World War II, then as the site of the Munich massacre of nine Israeli athletes and coaches and one German police officer at the 1972 Summer Olympics.
• Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base (FEL) currently has only 1 runway.
• The squadrons retained the same color designations with their F-84s, however the F-84 markings consisted of a solid geometric shape painted on the vertical stabilizer, just above the radio call number, with a capital letter specific to each aircraft at the center.
• On 13 August 1948 the 36th Fighter Wing was assigned to Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base as an operational unit.
• The 10th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing was designated as the successor of the World War II 10th Reconnaissance Group, being awarded its lineage and honors.
• The furthest airport from Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base (FEL) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,958 miles (19,244 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The Air Base was established in 1935, and was the pride of the Luftwaffe during World War II.
• The closest airport to Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base (FEL) is Augsburg Airport (AGB), which is located 22 miles (35 kilometers) NW of FEL.