Nonstop flight route between Mbeya, Tanzania and Sumter, South Carolina, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Mbeya Airport (MBI), Mbeya, Tanzania and Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,930 miles (or 12,762 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 Mbeya 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 Mbeya 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 Mbeya Airport (MBI):

• The furthest airport from Mbeya Airport (MBI) is Cassidy International Airport (CXI), which is located 11,553 miles (18,592 kilometers) away in Christmas Island, Kiribati.
• The closest airport to Mbeya Airport (MBI) is Karonga Airport (KGJ), which is located 77 miles (124 kilometers) SSE of MBI.
• Because of Mbeya Airport's high elevation of 5,600 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at MBI. Combined with a high temperature, this could make MBI a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• Mbeya Airport (MBI) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Mbeya Airport", another name for MBI is "Uwanja wa Ndege wa Mbeya  (Swahili)".

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.
• Flying activities at the field began on 22 October 1941 using Vultee BT-13 Valiants.
• 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.
• On 1 April 1951, the 363d TRW was transferred to Shaw from Langley Air Force Base, Virginia The 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing would remain at Shaw, under various designations, for the next 43 years.
• The 363rd Fighter Wing was inactivated at Shaw AFB on 31 December 1993, and the next day, 1 January 1994, the 20th Fighter Wing inactivated at RAF Upper Heyford and reactivated without personnel or equipment at Shaw AFB, returning to the base it had left for duty with NATO forty-one years earlier.
• The group initially conducted training with two squadrons flying the Republic RF-84F "Thunderflash" and two squadrons Group, was a part of Strategic Air Command from July 1947 – May 1951, at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana as an Air Force Reserve corollary unit under the guidance of active duty units in order to train and maintain currency in reconnaissance operations for its reserve personnel.
• Shaw Army Airfield was designated a permanent Army Air Forces instantiation after the war, being transferred to Continental Air Forces on 16 April 1945.
• The closest airport to Shaw Air Force Base (SSC) is Sumter Airport (SUM), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) ENE of SSC.
• On 25 June 1953, the 66th TRW departed Shaw, being reassigned to Sembach Air Base, West Germany.