Nonstop flight route between Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Brest, France:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from WAL to BES:
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- About this route
- WAL Airport Information
- BES Airport Information
- Facts about WAL
- Facts about BES
- 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 BES
- List of Nearest Airports to BES
- Map of Furthest Airports from BES
- List of Furthest Airports from BES
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL), Wallops Island, Virginia, United States and Brest Bretagne Airport (BES), Brest, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,520 miles (or 5,665 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 Brest Bretagne 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 Brest Bretagne Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
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: | BES / LFRB |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Brest, France |
GPS Coordinates: | 48°26'49"N by 4°25'18"W |
Area Served: | Brest, France |
Operator/Owner: | Chamber of Commerce |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 325 feet (99 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from BES |
More Information: | BES Maps & Info |
Facts about Wallops Flight Facility Airport (WAL):
- 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 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 first payload launched into orbit from Wallops Island was Explorer IX, atop a Scout rocket, on February 15, 1961.
- 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.
- 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 NASA Wallops Flight Facility has alliances with a number of organizations important to its mission and future growth.
- The WFF Research Airport is located on the Main Base.
- 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 Brest Bretagne Airport (BES):
- The closest airport to Brest Bretagne Airport (BES) is Morlaix - Ploujean Airport (MXN), which is located 30 miles (48 kilometers) ENE of BES.
- Because of Brest Bretagne Airport's relatively low elevation of 325 feet, planes can take off or land at Brest Bretagne 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 Brest Bretagne Airport (BES) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is nearly antipodal to Brest Bretagne Airport (meaning Brest Bretagne Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Dunedin International Airport), and is located 12,130 miles (19,522 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
- Brest Bretagne Airport, formerly known as Brest Guipavas Airport, is an international airport serving Brest, France.
- Brest Bretagne Airport (BES) has 2 runways.
- In addition to being known as "Brest Bretagne Airport", another name for BES is "Aéroport de Brest Bretagne".