Nonstop flight route between Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany and Sumter, South Carolina, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Heidelberg Airport (HDB), Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany and Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,243 miles (or 13,265 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 Heidelberg 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 Heidelberg 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 Heidelberg Airport (HDB):

• Heidelberg Airport (HDB) has 2 runways.
• In addition to being known as "Heidelberg Airport", another name for HDB is "FAHG".
• The furthest airport from Heidelberg Airport (HDB) is Hana Airport (HNM), which is located 11,954 miles (19,237 kilometers) away in Hana, Hawaii, United States.
• The closest airport to Heidelberg Airport (HDB) is Rand Airport (QRA), which is located 24 miles (38 kilometers) NW of HDB.

Facts about Shaw Air Force Base (SSC):

• Shaw AFB is home base of the USAF 20th Fighter Wing, which flies F-16CJ Fighting Falcons.
• 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.
• On March 23, 1953, the 432d Tactical Reconnaissance Group was activated at Shaw.
• For a brief time, Shaw Field also served as a prisoner-of-war camp.
• By 1980, the advent of reconnaissance satellites made the need for tactical aircraft reconnaissance less and less necessary.
• 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 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.