Nonstop flight route between Kuusamo, Finland and Sumter, South Carolina, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Kuusamo Airport (KAO), Kuusamo, Finland 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 Kuusamo 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 Kuusamo 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 Kuusamo Airport (KAO):

• Kuusamo Airport handled 82,497 passengers last year.
• Kuusamo Airport (KAO) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Kuusamo Airport", another name for KAO is "Kuusamon lentoasema".
• The furthest airport from Kuusamo Airport (KAO) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,624 miles (17,098 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Kuusamo Airport (KAO) is Rovaniemi Airport (RVN), which is located 102 miles (165 kilometers) WNW of KAO.
• Because of Kuusamo Airport's relatively low elevation of 866 feet, planes can take off or land at Kuusamo 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.

Facts about Shaw Air Force Base (SSC):

• 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.
• In addition to the 363d TRW, Headquarters Ninth Air Force was transferred to Shaw from Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina on 1 September 1954.
• 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.
• On 1 April 1945 jurisdiction of Shaw Field was transferred to First Air Force.
• 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.
• After the establishment of the United States Air Force as a separate military branch in September 1947, Shaw Army Airfield was renamed Shaw Air Force Base, on 13 January 1948 and the 20th Fighter-Bomber Wing was activated on 15 August 1947 with the implementation of the Hobson Plan.