Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Hillsboro / Portland, Oregon, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Portland-Hillsboro Airport (HIO), Hillsboro / Portland, Oregon, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,466 miles (or 3,969 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 relatively short distance between Wallops Flight Facility Airport and Portland-Hillsboro Airport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL):

• 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.
• In the early years, research at Wallops concentrated on obtaining aerodynamic data at transonic and low supersonic speeds.
• 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.
• Major Wallops facilities include FAA-certified runways.
• 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.
• 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 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.

Facts about Portland-Hillsboro Airport (HIO):

• The closest airport to Portland-Hillsboro Airport (HIO) is Portland International Airport (PDX), which is located only 17 miles (28 kilometers) E of HIO.
• Portland-Hillsboro Airport (HIO) has 2 runways.
• Because of Portland-Hillsboro Airport's relatively low elevation of 204 feet, planes can take off or land at Portland-Hillsboro 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.
• A Horizon Air plane was hijacked on May 2, 1986, en route from Eugene to Portland, with the pilot able to convince the hijacker to allow the plane to land at HIO where the hijacker was arrested.
• The furthest airport from Portland-Hillsboro Airport (HIO) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 10,913 miles (17,563 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• The field was also considered as a possible Naval air station in 1946 and again in 1955, but was eventually rejected by the Navy.
• As of 2006, the Port of Portland planned to spend $134 million through 2025 to improve the Hillsboro facility.