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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Castres - Mazamet Airport (DCM), Castres, Languedoc, France and Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,323 miles (or 6,957 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 Castres - Mazamet 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 Castres - Mazamet 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 Castres - Mazamet Airport (DCM):

• The furthest airport from Castres - Mazamet Airport (DCM) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Castres - Mazamet Airport (meaning Castres - Mazamet Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,372 miles (19,910 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Castres - Mazamet Airport (DCM) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Castres - Mazamet Airport's relatively low elevation of 785 feet, planes can take off or land at Castres - Mazamet 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 Castres - Mazamet Airport (DCM) is Carcassonne Airport (CCF), which is located 23 miles (38 kilometers) S of DCM.
• In addition to being known as "Castres - Mazamet Airport", another name for DCM is "Aéroport de Castres - Mazamet".

Facts about Shaw Air Force Base (SSC):

• 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 closest airport to Shaw Air Force Base (SSC) is Sumter Airport (SUM), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) ENE of SSC.
• Jurisdiction of Shaw was again transferred to Tactical Air Command on 23 March 1946.
• In October 1942, the flight training was changed to Advanced flying training and AT-6 Texan single-engine and Beech AT-10 twin-engine trainers were used.
• 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 Army Airfield was designated a permanent Army Air Forces instantiation after the war, being transferred to Continental Air Forces on 16 April 1945.
• The 363rd Fighter Wing was inactivated at Shaw AFB on 31 December 1993, and the next day, 1 January 1994, the 20th Fighter Wing inactivated at RAF Upper Heyford and reactivated without personnel or equipment at Shaw AFB, returning to the base it had left for duty with NATO forty-one years earlier.