Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Napaskiak, Alaska, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from WAL to PKA:
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- About this route
- WAL Airport Information
- PKA Airport Information
- Facts about WAL
- Facts about PKA
- Map of Nearest Airports to WAL
- List of Nearest Airports to WAL
- Map of Furthest Airports from WAL
- List of Furthest Airports from WAL
- Map of Nearest Airports to PKA
- List of Nearest Airports to PKA
- Map of Furthest Airports from PKA
- List of Furthest Airports from PKA
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Napaskiak Airport (PKA), Napaskiak, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,860 miles (or 6,213 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 Napaskiak 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 Napaskiak Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | WAL / KWAL |
Airport Name: | Wallops Flight Facility Airport |
Location: | Wallops Island, Virginia, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 37°56'24"N by 75°27'59"W |
Elevation: | 0 feet (0 meters) |
View all routes: | Routes from WAL |
More Information: | WAL Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | PKA / PAPK |
Airport Name: | Napaskiak Airport |
Location: | Napaskiak, Alaska, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 60°42'10"N by 161°46'41"W |
Area Served: | Napaskiak, Alaska |
Operator/Owner: | State of Alaska DOT&PF - Central Region |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 24 feet (7 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from PKA |
More Information: | PKA Maps & Info |
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 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.
- Wallops Flight Facility, located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, is operated by the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, primarily as a rocket launch site to support science and exploration missions for N.A.S.A.
- Weather measurements and predictions are critical to all Research Airport operations, rocket and balloon launches, and in safely conducting hazardous operations on the ground.
- 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.
- In 1945, NASA's predecessor agency, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, established a rocket launch site on Wallops Island under the direction of the Langley Research Center.
- The closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of WAL.
- In the early years, research at Wallops concentrated on obtaining aerodynamic data at transonic and low supersonic speeds.
- In 1959, NASA acquired the former Naval Air Station Chincoteague, and engineering and administrative activities were moved to this location.
- The Wallops Visitor Center has a variety of hands-on exhibits and hosts weekly educational activities and programs to enable children to explore and learn about the technologies designed and used by NASA researchers and scientists.
Facts about Napaskiak Airport (PKA):
- Because of Napaskiak Airport's relatively low elevation of 24 feet, planes can take off or land at Napaskiak 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 Napaskiak Airport (PKA) is Cape Town International Airport (CPT), which is located 10,590 miles (17,042 kilometers) away in Cape Town, South Africa.
- Napaskiak Airport (PKA) has 2 runways.
- The closest airport to Napaskiak Airport (PKA) is Bethel Seaplane Base (JBT), which is located only 6 miles (9 kilometers) NNE of PKA.