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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Metz–Nancy–Lorraine Airport (ETZ), Lorraine, France and Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,358 miles (or 7,014 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 Metz–Nancy–Lorraine 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 Metz–Nancy–Lorraine 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 Metz–Nancy–Lorraine Airport (ETZ):

• Because of Metz–Nancy–Lorraine Airport's relatively low elevation of 870 feet, planes can take off or land at Metz–Nancy–Lorraine 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.
• Metz–Nancy–Lorraine Airport (ETZ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Metz–Nancy–Lorraine Airport (ETZ) is Saarbrücken Airport (SCN), which is located 42 miles (68 kilometers) ENE of ETZ.
• The furthest airport from Metz–Nancy–Lorraine Airport (ETZ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Metz–Nancy–Lorraine Airport (meaning Metz–Nancy–Lorraine Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,057 miles (19,404 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Metz–Nancy–Lorraine Airport", another name for ETZ is "Aéroport de Metz-Nancy-Lorraine".

Facts about Shaw Air Force Base (SSC):

• For a brief time, Shaw Field also served as a prisoner-of-war camp.
• Jurisdiction of Shaw was again transferred to Tactical Air Command on 23 March 1946.
• On March 23, 1953, the 432d Tactical Reconnaissance Group was activated at Shaw.
• The closest airport to Shaw Air Force Base (SSC) is Sumter Airport (SUM), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) ENE of SSC.
• By 1980, the advent of reconnaissance satellites made the need for tactical aircraft reconnaissance less and less necessary.
• On 25 June 1953, the 66th TRW departed Shaw, being reassigned to Sembach Air Base, West Germany.
• 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.
• The 66th TRW was formed at Shaw from the RB-26 assets of the 18th TRS and RF-80s transferred from South Korea.