Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Wichita, Kansas, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and McConnell Air Force Base Wichita Army Airfield (IAB), Wichita, Kansas, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,188 miles (or 1,912 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 McConnell Air Force Base Wichita Army Airfield, 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 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 closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of WAL.
• 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.
• In 1998, the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority, later joined by Maryland, built the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops on land leased from NASA.
• 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.
• In 1959, NASA acquired the former Naval Air Station Chincoteague, and engineering and administrative activities were moved to this location.
• The Wallops Research Range includes ground-based and mobile systems, and a range control center.
• 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.
• The first payload launched into orbit from Wallops Island was Explorer IX, atop a Scout rocket, on February 15, 1961.

Facts about McConnell Air Force Base Wichita Army Airfield (IAB):

• Air Materiel Command's mission at the airport was to accept, service and coordinate the transfer of newly produced Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers to other installations.
• On 1 March 1962, Strategic Air Command stood up the 381st Strategic Missile Wing.
• The furthest airport from McConnell Air Force Base Wichita Army Airfield (IAB) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,740 miles (17,285 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
• The Air Force was not the sole occupant during this period.
• McConnell's history began in October 1924, when the city of Wichita hosted more than 100,000 people for the National Air Congress.
• However, the name was changed to McConnell Air Force Base after less than a year in honor of Wichita brothers Fred and Thomas McConnell, both Air Force pilots and World War II veterans.
• In addition to being known as "McConnell Air Force Base Wichita Army Airfield", another name for IAB is "McConnell AFB".
• Other facilities at the airport, however, were meager.
• The closest airport to McConnell Air Force Base Wichita Army Airfield (IAB) is Cessna Aircraft Field (CEA), which is located only 2 miles (3 kilometers) NNE of IAB.