Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Le Puy-en-Velay / Loudes, Haute-Loire, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Le Puy - Loudes Airport (LPY), Le Puy-en-Velay / Loudes, Haute-Loire, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,963 miles (or 6,378 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 Le Puy - Loudes 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 Le Puy - Loudes 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 WFF Main Base is located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia on the Delmarva Peninsula about 5 miles west of Chincoteague, Virginia.
• On September 6, 2013, the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer was launched from Wallops, atop a Minotaur V rocket.
• 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 schedule for sounding rocket launches from WFF is posted on its official Web site.
• 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.
• 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.
• Since 2001, engineers at NASA Wallops Flight Facility have been developing new range technologies, systems and approaches to improve the cost and responsiveness of launch and flight test activities, within the constraints of available funding and program schedules.
• 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 Le Puy - Loudes Airport (LPY):

• Le Puy - Loudes Airport (LPY) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Le Puy - Loudes Airport (LPY) is Saint-Étienne–Bouthéon Airport (EBU), which is located 41 miles (66 kilometers) NE of LPY.
• The furthest airport from Le Puy - Loudes Airport (LPY) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Le Puy - Loudes Airport (meaning Le Puy - Loudes Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,348 miles (19,873 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Le Puy - Loudes Airport", another name for LPY is "Aéroport de Le Puy-en-Velay - Loudes".