Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Zhongwei, Ningxia, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Zhongwei Shapotou Airport (ZHY), Zhongwei, Ningxia, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,219 miles (or 11,618 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 Zhongwei Shapotou 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 Zhongwei Shapotou 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):

• The Wallops Flight Facility also supports science missions for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and occasionally for foreign governments and commercial organizations.
• The WFF Research Airport is located on the Main Base.
• 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 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.
• The Wallops mobile range instrumentation includes telemetry, radar, command and power systems.
• 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 1998, the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority, later joined by Maryland, built the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops on land leased from NASA.
• In the early years, research at Wallops concentrated on obtaining aerodynamic data at transonic and low supersonic speeds.

Facts about Zhongwei Shapotou Airport (ZHY):

• In addition to being known as "Zhongwei Shapotou Airport", other names for ZHY include "中卫沙坡头机场" and "Zhōngwèi Shāpōtóu Jīchǎng".
• The closest airport to Zhongwei Shapotou Airport (ZHY) is Yinchuan Hedong International Airport (INC), which is located 85 miles (137 kilometers) NE of ZHY.
• Because of Zhongwei Shapotou Airport's high elevation of 8,202 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at ZHY. Combined with a high temperature, this could make ZHY a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• The furthest airport from Zhongwei Shapotou Airport (ZHY) is Carriel Sur International Airport (CCP), which is nearly antipodal to Zhongwei Shapotou Airport (meaning Zhongwei Shapotou Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Carriel Sur International Airport), and is located 12,324 miles (19,834 kilometers) away in Concepción, Bío Bío Region, Chile.
• Zhongwei Shapotou Airport (ZHY) currently has only 1 runway.