Nonstop flight route between Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and Sumter, South Carolina, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Gütersloh (GUT), Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,367 miles (or 7,028 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 RAF Gütersloh 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 RAF Gütersloh 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 RAF Gütersloh (GUT):

• RAF Gütersloh (GUT) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to RAF Gütersloh (GUT) is Paderborn Lippstadt Airport (PAD), which is located 25 miles (41 kilometers) SSE of GUT.
• Royal Air Force Station Gütersloh, more commonly known as RAF Gütersloh, was a Royal Air Force Germany military airfield, the nearest Royal Air Force airfield to the East/West German border, in the vicinity of the town of Gütersloh.
• During its history as an RAF station, it was home to two squadrons of the English Electric Lightning F2/F2A - No.
• The furthest airport from RAF Gütersloh (GUT) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,835 miles (19,046 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of RAF Gütersloh's relatively low elevation of 236 feet, planes can take off or land at RAF Gütersloh 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.

Facts about Shaw Air Force Base (SSC):

• On 1 April 1945 jurisdiction of Shaw Field was transferred to First Air Force.
• On March 23, 1953, the 432d Tactical Reconnaissance Group was activated at Shaw.
• On 25 June 1953, the 66th TRW departed Shaw, being reassigned to Sembach Air Base, West Germany.
• 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.
• 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.
• The squadrons flew the P-61 Black Widow in Europe with Ninth Air Force during World War II, and were reassigned back to the United States after the end of hostilities.
• 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 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.