Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Great Barrier Island, New Zealand:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from WAL to GBZ:
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- About this route
- WAL Airport Information
- GBZ Airport Information
- Facts about WAL
- Facts about GBZ
- 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 GBZ
- List of Nearest Airports to GBZ
- Map of Furthest Airports from GBZ
- List of Furthest Airports from GBZ
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Great Barrier Aerodrome (GBZ), Great Barrier Island, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,625 miles (or 13,881 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 Great Barrier Aerodrome, 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 Great Barrier Aerodrome. 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: | GBZ / NZGB |
Airport Name: | Great Barrier Aerodrome |
Location: | Great Barrier Island, New Zealand |
GPS Coordinates: | 36°14'29"S by 175°28'18"E |
Operator/Owner: | Auckland Council |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 21 feet (6 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from GBZ |
More Information: | GBZ Maps & Info |
Facts about Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL):
- 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.
- Weather measurements and predictions are critical to all Research Airport operations, rocket and balloon launches, and in safely conducting hazardous operations on the ground.
- 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.
- 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 first payload launched into orbit from Wallops Island was Explorer IX, atop a Scout rocket, on February 15, 1961.
- For many years WFF was home to the NSIP Sub-SEM and SEM projects.
- 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 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.
Facts about Great Barrier Aerodrome (GBZ):
- The furthest airport from Great Barrier Aerodrome (GBZ) is Málaga Airport (AGP), which is nearly antipodal to Great Barrier Aerodrome (meaning Great Barrier Aerodrome is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Málaga Airport), and is located 12,407 miles (19,967 kilometers) away in Málaga, Spain.
- The closest airport to Great Barrier Aerodrome (GBZ) is Coromandel Aerodrome (CMV), which is located 38 miles (61 kilometers) S of GBZ.
- Great Barrier Aerodrome (GBZ) has 2 runways.
- Because of Great Barrier Aerodrome's relatively low elevation of 21 feet, planes can take off or land at Great Barrier Aerodrome 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.