Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Pinto Martins – Fortaleza International Airport (FOR), Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,727 miles (or 5,999 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 Pinto Martins – Fortaleza 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 Pinto Martins – Fortaleza International 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):

• 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.
• Weather measurements and predictions are critical to all Research Airport operations, rocket and balloon launches, and in safely conducting hazardous operations on the ground.
• The Wallops Research Range includes ground-based and mobile systems, and a range control center.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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 closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of WAL.
• The first payload launched into orbit from Wallops Island was Explorer IX, atop a Scout rocket, on February 15, 1961.

Facts about Pinto Martins – Fortaleza International Airport (FOR):

• During World War II, the airport was an important allied base supporting the Southern Atlantic operations.
• In addition to being known as "Pinto Martins – Fortaleza International Airport", another name for FOR is "Aeroporto Internacional Pinto Martins – Fortaleza".
• Because of Pinto Martins – Fortaleza International Airport's relatively low elevation of 82 feet, planes can take off or land at Pinto Martins – Fortaleza International 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.
• On May 13, 1952 the original name, Cocorote Airport, was changed to its present name.
• The closest airport to Pinto Martins – Fortaleza International Airport (FOR) is Gov. Dix-Sept Rosado Airport (MVF), which is located 127 miles (204 kilometers) SE of FOR.
• The furthest airport from Pinto Martins – Fortaleza International Airport (FOR) is Batom Airport (BXM), which is located 11,999 miles (19,310 kilometers) away in Batom, Indonesia.
• Pinto Martins – Fortaleza International Airport handled 5,952,629 passengers last year.
• Pinto Martins – Fortaleza International Airport (FOR) currently has only 1 runway.