Nonstop flight route between Dresden, Germany and Sumter, South Carolina, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Dresden Airport (DRS), Dresden, Germany and Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,604 miles (or 7,409 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 Dresden 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 Dresden 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 Dresden Airport (DRS):

• The airport is within the Verkehrsverbund Oberelbe's Dresden tariff zone, as is central Dresden, and a single ticket is valid on the S-Bahn, trams and buses within that zone.
• Dresden Airport is home to EADS EFW, a business unit of EADS mainly responsible for freighter aircraft conversion.
• Because of Dresden Airport's relatively low elevation of 754 feet, planes can take off or land at Dresden 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 Dresden Airport (DRS) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,742 miles (18,897 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The airport is served by an adjacent junction on the A4 Autobahn, which by-passes central Dresden on its route from Aachen, on the Dutch border, to Görlitz, on the Polish border.
• Dresden Airport (DRS) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Dresden Airport (DRS) is Leipzig–Altenburg Airport (AOC), which is located 56 miles (90 kilometers) W of DRS.
• In addition to being known as "Dresden Airport", another name for DRS is "Flughafen Dresden".
• The airport was opened to commercial traffic on 11 July 1935.
• After German reunification, the airport was expanded and flights to western European capitals were added.

Facts about Shaw Air Force Base (SSC):

• The 432nd's mission at Shaw AFB was to assume the reconnaissance training mission that was handled previously by the 363d TRW.
• The closest airport to Shaw Air Force Base (SSC) is Sumter Airport (SUM), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) ENE of SSC.
• Flying activities at the field began on 22 October 1941 using Vultee BT-13 Valiants.
• 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.
• Jurisdiction of Shaw was again transferred to Tactical Air Command on 23 March 1946.
• For a brief time, Shaw Field also served as a prisoner-of-war camp.
• As a result of the end of the Cold War, the Air Force made several dramatic changes with the inactivation and re-designation of wings and their units.