Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Pukarua, Tuamotus, French Polynesia:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from WAL to PUK:
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- About this route
- WAL Airport Information
- PUK Airport Information
- Facts about WAL
- Facts about PUK
- 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 PUK
- List of Nearest Airports to PUK
- Map of Furthest Airports from PUK
- List of Furthest Airports from PUK
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Pukarua Airport (PUK), Pukarua, Tuamotus, French Polynesia would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,567 miles (or 8,960 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 Pukarua 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 Pukarua 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: | PUK / NTGQ |
Airport Names: |
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Location: | Pukarua, Tuamotus, French Polynesia |
GPS Coordinates: | 18°17'44"S by 137°1'0"W |
Area Served: | Pukarua |
Operator/Owner: | DSEAC Polynésie Française |
Airport Type: | Public |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from PUK |
More Information: | PUK Maps & Info |
Facts about Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL):
- 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.
- Major Wallops facilities include FAA-certified runways.
- The first payload launched into orbit from Wallops Island was Explorer IX, atop a Scout rocket, on February 15, 1961.
- In the early years, research at Wallops concentrated on obtaining aerodynamic data at transonic and low supersonic speeds.
- 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 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.
- 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.
Facts about Pukarua Airport (PUK):
- The closest airport to Pukarua Airport (PUK) is Nukutavake Airport (NUK), which is located 134 miles (215 kilometers) WSW of PUK.
- In addition to being known as "Pukarua Airport", another name for PUK is "Aérodrome de Pukarua".
- Pukarua Airport (PUK) currently has only 1 runway.
- The furthest airport from Pukarua Airport (PUK) is Abha Regional Airport (AHB), which is nearly antipodal to Pukarua Airport (meaning Pukarua Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Abha Regional Airport), and is located 12,415 miles (19,980 kilometers) away in Abha / Khamis Mushait, Saudi Arabia.