Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Jackson, Mississippi, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Hawkins Field (HKS), Jackson, Mississippi, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 918 miles (or 1,477 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 Hawkins Field, 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):

• AFSS is a project to develop an autonomous on-board system that could augment or replace traditional ground-commanded Range Safety flight termination systems.
• 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 Research Range includes ground-based and mobile systems, and a range control center.
• The first payload launched into orbit from Wallops Island was Explorer IX, atop a Scout rocket, on February 15, 1961.
• 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.
• The schedule for sounding rocket launches from WFF is posted on its official Web site.
• 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.
• 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 Hawkins Field (HKS):

• The furthest airport from Hawkins Field (HKS) is Cocos (Keeling) Island Airport (CCK), which is located 10,975 miles (17,662 kilometers) away in Cocos Islands, Australia.
• The closest airport to Hawkins Field (HKS) is Jackson–Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport (JAN), which is located only 9 miles (14 kilometers) E of HKS.
• Hawkins Field (HKS) has 2 runways.
• Jackson Army Air Base was the name of an abandoned military base in the movie Capricorn One, where they staged a fake Mars landing.
• Because of Hawkins Field's relatively low elevation of 341 feet, planes can take off or land at Hawkins Field 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 May 1941 the Dutch government-in-exile, following the occupation of the Netherlands, established the Royal Netherlands Military Flying School at Hawkins Field.
• In addition to being known as "Hawkins Field", another name for HKS is "(former Jackson Army Air Base)".
• It was not until 1949 that Hawkins was again classified as a civil airfield.
• A Piper PA-32 single-engine plane went down Tuesday, November 13, 2012, killing the 3 people on board in a nearby neighborhood of single-family homes.