Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Kobuk, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Kobuk Airport (OBU), Kobuk, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,613 miles (or 5,814 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 Kobuk 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 Kobuk 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):

• In 1959, NASA acquired the former Naval Air Station Chincoteague, and engineering and administrative activities were moved to this location.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.
• On September 6, 2013, the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer was launched from Wallops, atop a Minotaur V rocket.

Facts about Kobuk Airport (OBU):

• The furthest airport from Kobuk Airport (OBU) is George Airport (GRJ), which is located 10,163 miles (16,356 kilometers) away in George, South Africa.
• Kobuk Airport (OBU) currently has only 1 runway.
• As per the Federal Aviation Administration, this airport had 1,176 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 1,048 in 2009, and 1,255 in 2010.
• Because of Kobuk Airport's relatively low elevation of 142 feet, planes can take off or land at Kobuk 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 closest airport to Kobuk Airport (OBU) is Dahl Creek Airport (DCK), which is located only 2 miles (3 kilometers) N of OBU.
• In addition to being known as "Kobuk Airport", another name for OBU is "PAOB".