Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Gulkana, Alaska, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from WAL to GKN:
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- About this route
- WAL Airport Information
- GKN Airport Information
- Facts about WAL
- Facts about GKN
- 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 GKN
- List of Nearest Airports to GKN
- Map of Furthest Airports from GKN
- List of Furthest Airports from GKN
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Gulkana Airport (GKN), Gulkana, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,313 miles (or 5,332 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 Gulkana 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 Gulkana 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: | GKN / PAGK |
Airport Name: | Gulkana Airport |
Location: | Gulkana, Alaska, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 62°9'18"N by 145°27'15"W |
Area Served: | Gulkana, Alaska |
Operator/Owner: | State of Alaska DOT&PF |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 1586 feet (483 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from GKN |
More Information: | GKN Maps & Info |
Facts about Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL):
- The schedule for sounding rocket launches from WFF is posted on its official Web site.
- 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.
- 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 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.
- The WFF Main Base is located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia on the Delmarva Peninsula about 5 miles west of Chincoteague, Virginia.
- The closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of WAL.
- On September 6, 2013, the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer was launched from Wallops, atop a Minotaur V rocket.
Facts about Gulkana Airport (GKN):
- The furthest airport from Gulkana Airport (GKN) is Port Elizabeth International Airport (PLZ), which is located 10,451 miles (16,820 kilometers) away in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
- Gulkana Airport covers an area of 1,678 acres at an elevation of 1,586 feet above mean sea level.
- Gulkana Airport (GKN) currently has only 1 runway.
- The closest airport to Gulkana Airport (GKN) is Copper Center Airport (CZC), which is located only 16 miles (25 kilometers) SSE of GKN.