Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and London, England, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and London Heathrow Airport (LHR), London, England, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,631 miles (or 5,843 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 London Heathrow 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 London Heathrow 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):

• 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 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.
• For many years WFF was home to the NSIP Sub-SEM and SEM projects.
• 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.
• 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 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 closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of WAL.

Facts about London Heathrow Airport (LHR):

• The furthest airport from London Heathrow Airport (LHR) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,875 miles (19,112 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• A trial of "noise relief zones" ran from December 2012 to March 2013, which concentrated approach flight paths into defined areas compared with the existing paths which were spread out.
• Heathrow airport has its own resident press corps, consisting of six photographers and one TV crew, serving all the major newspapers and television stations around the world.
• Terminal 3 opened as The Oceanic Terminal on 13 November 1961 to handle flight departures for long-haul routes.
• Until 2008, air traffic between Heathrow and the United States was strictly governed by the countries' bilateral Bermuda II treaty.
• London Heathrow Airport (LHR) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to London Heathrow Airport (LHR) is RAF Northolt (NHT), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) NNE of LHR.
• Because of London Heathrow Airport's relatively low elevation of 83 feet, planes can take off or land at London Heathrow 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.