Nonstop flight route between Bourges, France and Sumter, South Carolina, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Bourges Airport (BOU), Bourges, France and Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,239 miles (or 6,822 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 Bourges 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 Bourges 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:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about Bourges Airport (BOU):

• Bourges Airport (BOU) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Bourges Airport", another name for BOU is "Aéroport de Bourges".
• Because of Bourges Airport's relatively low elevation of 529 feet, planes can take off or land at Bourges 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 Bourges Airport (BOU) is Châteauroux-Centre "Marcel Dassault" Airport (CHR), which is located 34 miles (54 kilometers) WSW of BOU.
• The furthest airport from Bourges Airport (BOU) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Bourges Airport (meaning Bourges Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,205 miles (19,642 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.

Facts about Shaw Air Force Base (SSC):

• 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 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.
• Shaw Field was activated on 30 August 1941 and placed under the jurisdiction of the Army Air Corps Southeast Air Corps Training Center.
• 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.
• The 20th FG was reassigned to Langley AFB, Virginia on 1 December 1951 in preparation for a permanent overseas deployment to RAF Wethersfield, England to support NATO.
• On 25 June 1953, the 66th TRW departed Shaw, being reassigned to Sembach Air Base, West Germany.
• As a result of the August 1992 destruction of Homestead AFB Florida by Hurricane Andrew in September 1992, the 31st Fighter Wing's 309th Fighter Squadron was initially evacuated to Shaw AFB prior to the hurricane making landfall.