Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Steamboat Springs, Colorado, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from WAL to SBS:
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- About this route
- WAL Airport Information
- SBS Airport Information
- Facts about WAL
- Facts about SBS
- 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 SBS
- List of Nearest Airports to SBS
- Map of Furthest Airports from SBS
- List of Furthest Airports from SBS
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Steamboat Springs Airport (SBS), Steamboat Springs, Colorado, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,681 miles (or 2,705 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 Steamboat Springs Airport, 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: | SBS / KSBS |
| Airport Names: |
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| Location: | Steamboat Springs, Colorado, United States |
| GPS Coordinates: | 40°30'57"N by 106°51'59"W |
| Area Served: | Steamboat Springs, Colorado |
| Operator/Owner: | City of Steamboat Springs |
| Airport Type: | Public |
| Elevation: | 6882 feet (2,098 meters) |
| # of Runways: | 1 |
| View all routes: | Routes from SBS |
| More Information: | SBS Maps & Info |
Facts about Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL):
- Major Wallops facilities include FAA-certified runways.
- Weather measurements and predictions are critical to all Research Airport operations, rocket and balloon launches, and in safely conducting hazardous operations on the ground.
- 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.
- 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.
- Early research rockets at Wallops Island
- 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.
- 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.
Facts about Steamboat Springs Airport (SBS):
- Steamboat Springs Airport (SBS) currently has only 1 runway.
- In addition to being known as "Steamboat Springs Airport", another name for SBS is "Bob Adams Field".
- There is a small terminal for private aviation and several hangars on the property.
- The furthest airport from Steamboat Springs Airport (SBS) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,891 miles (17,527 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
- Because of Steamboat Springs Airport's high elevation of 6,882 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at SBS. Combined with a high temperature, this could make SBS a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- Larger aircraft land at the Yampa Valley Airport 25 miles west of Steamboat Springs near Hayden, which can handle the Boeing 737 and 757 as well as the Airbus A319 and A320, and has mainline jet flights during ski season and year-round United Express regional jets and turboprops to Denver.
- The closest airport to Steamboat Springs Airport (SBS) is Yampa Valley Airport (HDN), which is located only 19 miles (30 kilometers) W of SBS.
