Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Modesto, California, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Modesto City-County Airport (MOD), Modesto, California, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 2,459 miles (or 3,957 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 Modesto City-County Airport, 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• The schedule for sounding rocket launches from WFF is posted on its official Web site.
• 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 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.
• Major Wallops facilities include FAA-certified runways.
• 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 Modesto City-County Airport (MOD):

• Scheduled passenger flights started in 1946 when United Airlines opened its new terminal and began the Valley Queen service.
• The furthest airport from Modesto City-County Airport (MOD) is Tôlanaro Airport (FTU), which is located 11,314 miles (18,208 kilometers) away in Tôlanaro, Madagascar.
• In mid-2006 United Express/SkyWest Airlines added four flights a day to/from LAX and a flight to SFO to total 5 flights a day to San Francisco.
• In January 2010 the airport attracted periodic leisure charter flights on Boeing 737-400 and McDonnell Douglas MD-80 jets to Laughlin and West Wendover, NV.
• In addition to being known as "Modesto City-County Airport", other names for MOD include "Harry Sham Field" and "Modesto Auxiliary Airfield".
• Modesto City-County Airport (MOD) has 2 runways.
• The closest airport to Modesto City-County Airport (MOD) is NASA Crows Landing Airport (NRC), which is located only 17 miles (28 kilometers) SSW of MOD.
• Because of Modesto City-County Airport's relatively low elevation of 97 feet, planes can take off or land at Modesto City-County 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 the 1990s corporate and business aviation became the fastest growing segment of activity for the airport.