Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Fort Myers, Florida, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW), Fort Myers, Florida, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 869 miles (or 1,398 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 Southwest Florida International 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):

• 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 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.
• Early research rockets at Wallops Island
• The first payload launched into orbit from Wallops Island was Explorer IX, atop a Scout rocket, on February 15, 1961.
• 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.
• 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.
• The Wallops Flight Facility also supports science missions for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and occasionally for foreign governments and commercial organizations.
• The Wallops Research Range includes ground-based and mobile systems, and a range control center.
• 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.

Facts about Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW):

• RSW was conceived in 1973 when it was clear that the existing airport in Fort Myers, Page Field, would be too small.
• The furthest airport from Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) is Shark Bay Airport (MJK), which is located 11,486 miles (18,485 kilometers) away in Monkey Mia, Western Australia, Australia.
• The closest airport to Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) is Page Field (FMY), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) WNW of RSW.
• A new $16 million Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting facility opened in July 2013.
• Because of Southwest Florida International Airport's relatively low elevation of 30 feet, planes can take off or land at Southwest Florida International 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.
• Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) currently has only 1 runway.
• Southwest Florida International Airport handled 7,637,801 passengers last year.