Nonstop flight route between Medellín, Colombia and Sumter, South Carolina, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between José María Córdova International Airport (MDE), Medellín, Colombia and Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 1,948 miles (or 3,135 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 relatively short distance between José María Córdova International Airport and Shaw Air Force Base, the route shown on this map most likely still appears to be a straight line.

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about José María Córdova International Airport (MDE):

• After several obstacles, the city of Medellín has finally accepted the construction of an unpaved runway about 974 m long.
• In addition to being known as "José María Córdova International Airport", another name for MDE is "Aeropuerto Internacional José María Córdova".
• The airport has air navigation aids such as VOR, NDB, ILS, which allows greater ease of operation for pilots making navigation and landings safer in bad weather.
• José María Córdova International Airport is the second largest airport in Colombia after the El Dorado International Airport of Bogotá in terms of infrastructure and passenger service.
• Because of José María Córdova International Airport's high elevation of 7,027 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at MDE. Combined with a high temperature, this could make MDE a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• José María Córdova International Airport (MDE) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from José María Córdova International Airport (MDE) is Radin Inten II Airport (RIA II) (TKG), which is nearly antipodal to José María Córdova International Airport (meaning José María Córdova International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Radin Inten II Airport (RIA II)), and is located 12,361 miles (19,892 kilometers) away in Bandar Lampung, Sumatra, Indonesia.
• The closest airport to José María Córdova International Airport (MDE) is Olaya Herrera Airport (EOH), which is located only 12 miles (19 kilometers) WNW of MDE.

Facts about Shaw Air Force Base (SSC):

• By 1980, the advent of reconnaissance satellites made the need for tactical aircraft reconnaissance less and less necessary.
• 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 closest airport to Shaw Air Force Base (SSC) is Sumter Airport (SUM), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) ENE of SSC.
• The 432nd's mission at Shaw AFB was to assume the reconnaissance training mission that was handled previously by the 363d TRW.
• On 1 April 1945 jurisdiction of Shaw Field was transferred to First Air Force.
• 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.
• It is one of the largest military bases operated by the United States, and is one of only two air bases in CONUS with an active railroad line.
• 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.