Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Portland, Maine, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from WAL to PWM:
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- About this route
- WAL Airport Information
- PWM Airport Information
- Facts about WAL
- Facts about PWM
- 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 PWM
- List of Nearest Airports to PWM
- Map of Furthest Airports from PWM
- List of Furthest Airports from PWM
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Portland International Jetport (PWM), Portland, Maine, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 477 miles (or 768 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 Portland International Jetport, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.
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: | PWM / KPWM |
| Airport Name: | Portland International Jetport |
| Location: | Portland, Maine, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 43°38'45"N by 70°18'33"W |
| Area Served: | Portland, Maine |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 76 feet (23 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 2 |
| View all routes: | Routes from PWM |
| More Information: | PWM Maps & Info |
Facts about Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL):
- 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.
- 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.
- In the early years, research at Wallops concentrated on obtaining aerodynamic data at transonic and low supersonic speeds.
- 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.
- In 1998, the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority, later joined by Maryland, built the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops on land leased from NASA.
- 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.
Facts about Portland International Jetport (PWM):
- After Independence Air went bankrupt Portland had no low-cost carrier, causing fares to go up, and passenger numbers to decline.
- 1986 also brought US Airways, who began flights to Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
- The furthest airport from Portland International Jetport (PWM) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,705 miles (18,838 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
- The airfield was founded in the late 1920s by Dr.
- In 1982 PWM got its first nonstop beyond New York, when Delta tried a 727 to Cincinnati for a year or so.
- Because of Portland International Jetport's relatively low elevation of 76 feet, planes can take off or land at Portland International Jetport 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 wake of the September 11 attacks many U.S.
- Portland International Jetport (PWM) has 2 runways.
- The closest airport to Portland International Jetport (PWM) is Naval Air Station Brunswick (NHZ), which is located 25 miles (40 kilometers) NE of PWM.
- 1987 saw the arrival of Continental Airlines, when the airline bought PEOPLExpress and took over their routes.
