Nonstop flight route between Wellington, New Zealand and Sumter, South Carolina, United States:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from WLG to SSC:
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- About this route
- WLG Airport Information
- SSC Airport Information
- Facts about WLG
- Facts about SSC
- Map of Nearest Airports to WLG
- List of Nearest Airports to WLG
- Map of Furthest Airports from WLG
- List of Furthest Airports from WLG
- Map of Nearest Airports to SSC
- List of Nearest Airports to SSC
- Map of Furthest Airports from SSC
- List of Furthest Airports from SSC
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Wellington International Airport (WLG), Wellington, New Zealand and Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,417 miles (or 13,546 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 Wellington International Airport and Shaw Air Force Base, 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 Wellington International Airport and Shaw Air Force Base. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | WLG / NZWN |
Airport Name: | Wellington International Airport |
Location: | Wellington, New Zealand |
GPS Coordinates: | 41°19'37"S by 174°48'19"E |
Area Served: | Wellington, New Zealand |
Operator/Owner: | Infratil, Wellington City Council |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 42 feet (13 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from WLG |
More Information: | WLG Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SSC / KSSC |
Airport Name: | Shaw Air Force Base |
Location: | Sumter, South Carolina, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 33°58'23"N by 80°28'22"W |
View all routes: | Routes from SSC |
More Information: | SSC Maps & Info |
Facts about Wellington International Airport (WLG):
- A full-length runway extension, to accommodate long-haul aircraft such as the Boeing 747, has been previously investigated, but would require expensive land reclamation into Lyall Bay, and massive breakwater protection from Cook Strait.
- At 2,081 metres, Wellington's runway is shorter than some New Zealand domestic airport runways.
- The closest airport to Wellington International Airport (WLG) is Kapiti Coast Airport (PPQ), which is located 31 miles (49 kilometers) NNE of WLG.
- Wellington International Airport (WLG) currently has only 1 runway.
- Rongotai Airport started with a grass runway in November 1929.
- Since 1998 the airport has been two-thirds privately owned by Infratil, with the remaining third owned by the Wellington City Council.
- Wellington is the third busiest airport in New Zealand handling a total of 5,373,622 passengers in the year ending 31 March 2013.
- Because of Wellington International Airport's relatively low elevation of 42 feet, planes can take off or land at Wellington International 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 Wellington International Airport (WLG) is Salamanca-Matacán Airport (SLM), which is nearly antipodal to Wellington International Airport (meaning Wellington International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Salamanca-Matacán Airport), and is located 12,406 miles (19,966 kilometers) away in Salamanca, Spain.
Facts about Shaw Air Force Base (SSC):
- By 1980, the advent of reconnaissance satellites made the need for tactical aircraft reconnaissance less and less necessary.
- The closest airport to Shaw Air Force Base (SSC) is Sumter Airport (SUM), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) ENE of SSC.
- The furthest airport from Shaw Air Force Base (SSC) is Margaret River Airport (MGV), which is located 11,545 miles (18,580 kilometers) away in Margaret River, Western Australia, Australia.
- Shaw Air Force Base is named in honor of World War I pilot 1st Lieutenant Ervin David Shaw.
- Shaw Field was activated on 30 August 1941 and placed under the jurisdiction of the Army Air Corps Southeast Air Corps Training Center.
- On March 23, 1953, the 432d Tactical Reconnaissance Group was activated at Shaw.
- The group initially conducted training with two squadrons flying the Republic RF-84F "Thunderflash" and two squadrons Group, was a part of Strategic Air Command from July 1947 – May 1951, at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana as an Air Force Reserve corollary unit under the guidance of active duty units in order to train and maintain currency in reconnaissance operations for its reserve personnel.
- The 20th Fighter Group was first equipped with North American P-51D, then exchanged its P-51's in February 1948 for F-84B Thunderjets, the first TAC group to receive operational F-84s.