Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Inverness, Scotland, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Inverness Airport (INV), Inverness, Scotland, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,398 miles (or 5,469 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 Inverness 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 Inverness Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL):

• 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 first payload launched into orbit from Wallops Island was Explorer IX, atop a Scout rocket, on February 15, 1961.
• 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.
• Weather measurements and predictions are critical to all Research Airport operations, rocket and balloon launches, and in safely conducting hazardous operations on the ground.
• 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 NASA Wallops Flight Facility has alliances with a number of organizations important to its mission and future growth.
• 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 WFF Research Airport is located on the Main Base.
• 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.

Facts about Inverness Airport (INV):

• Inverness Airport is an international airport situated at Dalcross, 7 NM north east of the city of Inverness in Scotland.
• There is no station at Inverness Airport, although the Aberdeen to Inverness Line runs along the southern perimeter of the airfield.
• In addition to being known as "Inverness Airport", another name for INV is "Port-adhair Inbhir Nis".
• The furthest airport from Inverness Airport (INV) is Ryan's Creek Aerodrome (SZS), which is located 11,631 miles (18,718 kilometers) away in Stewart Island, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Inverness Airport (INV) is Kinloss Barracks (FSS), which is located only 19 miles (31 kilometers) ENE of INV.
• Inverness Airport handled 608,184 passengers last year.
• Inverness Airport (INV) has 2 runways.
• Because of Inverness Airport's relatively low elevation of 31 feet, planes can take off or land at Inverness 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 2004 Thomson Holidays, the UK's No1 Tour Operator launched a short series of peak season charter flights to Palma, Ibiza and Lanzarote using a Spanair A320, flights to Palma were maintained was added for a couple of seasons) through to 2010.
• The airport is located 7 NM northeast of the city of Inverness just off the main A96 Aberdeen-Inverness trunk road and is clearly sign-posted from all directions.
• The airport terminal is notable as an early example of the Public-private partnership favoured by the UK Government.