Nonstop flight route between Wallis and Futuna Islands and Wallops Island, Virginia, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Wallis Island (WLS), Wallis and Futuna Islands and Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,359 miles (or 11,843 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 Wallis Island and Wallops Flight Facility 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 Wallis Island and Wallops Flight Facility 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 Wallis Island (WLS):

• Rainfall is 2500–3000 mm per year in 4000 to Wallis and Futuna mm.
• The population of the island was 10,071 in 2003.
• Because of Wallis Island's relatively low elevation of 0 feet, planes can take off or land at Wallis Island 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 island was renamed "Wallis" after a Cornish navigator, Captain Samuel Wallis, who discovered it while sailing the HMS Dolphin on August 16, 1767, following his discovery of Tahiti.
• After a referendum in 1959, Wallis became a French Overseas Territory in 1961.
• The closest airport to Wallis Island (WLS) is Aéroport de Futuna - Pointe-Vele Pointe Vele Airport (FUT), which is located 145 miles (233 kilometers) WSW of WLS.
• The furthest airport from Wallis Island (WLS) is Diori Hamani International Airport (NIM), which is nearly antipodal to Wallis Island (meaning Wallis Island is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Diori Hamani International Airport), and is located 12,326 miles (19,837 kilometers) away in Niamey, Niger.

Facts about Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL):

• The WFF Main Base is located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia on the Delmarva Peninsula about 5 miles west of Chincoteague, Virginia.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• AFSS is a project to develop an autonomous on-board system that could augment or replace traditional ground-commanded Range Safety flight termination systems.
• 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.
• 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.