Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Timaru, New Zealand:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Richard Pearse Airport (Timaru Airport) (TIU), Timaru, New Zealand would travel a Great Circle distance of 9,034 miles (or 14,539 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 Richard Pearse Airport (Timaru 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 Richard Pearse Airport (Timaru Airport). You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL):

• 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 closest airport to Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL) is Accomack County Airport (MFV), which is located 26 miles (42 kilometers) SW of 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 Wallops Research Range includes ground-based and mobile systems, and a range control center.
• 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 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.
• On September 6, 2013, the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer was launched from Wallops, atop a Minotaur V rocket.
• 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 Richard Pearse Airport (Timaru Airport) (TIU):

• Richard Pearse Airport (Timaru Airport) (TIU) has 3 runways.
• The furthest airport from Richard Pearse Airport (Timaru Airport) (TIU) is A Coruña Airport (LCG), which is nearly antipodal to Richard Pearse Airport (Timaru Airport) (meaning Richard Pearse Airport (Timaru Airport) is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from A Coruña Airport), and is located 12,365 miles (19,899 kilometers) away in A Coruña, Spain.
• The closest airport to Richard Pearse Airport (Timaru Airport) (TIU) is Ashburton Aerodrome (ASG), which is located 40 miles (64 kilometers) NE of TIU.
• Because of Richard Pearse Airport (Timaru Airport)'s relatively low elevation of 89 feet, planes can take off or land at Richard Pearse Airport (Timaru 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.