Nonstop flight route between Paderborn, Germany and Sumter, South Carolina, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Paderborn Lippstadt Airport (PAD), Paderborn, Germany and Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,387 miles (or 7,061 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 Paderborn Lippstadt 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 Paderborn Lippstadt 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 Paderborn Lippstadt Airport (PAD):

• It came into being in 1971 as the Flughafen Paderborn/Lippstadt GmbH, with 1.03 million passing through the airport in 2010.
• Paderborn Lippstadt Airport (PAD) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Paderborn Lippstadt Airport (PAD) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,849 miles (19,068 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Paderborn Lippstadt Airport (PAD) is RAF Gütersloh (GUT), which is located 25 miles (41 kilometers) NNW of PAD.
• Because of Paderborn Lippstadt Airport's relatively low elevation of 699 feet, planes can take off or land at Paderborn Lippstadt 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.
• A conference center with several conference rooms can be found at the airport and a hotel was opened there in October 2006.
• In addition to being known as "Paderborn Lippstadt Airport", another name for PAD is "Flughafen Paderborn/Lippstadt".

Facts about Shaw Air Force Base (SSC):

• On March 23, 1953, the 432d Tactical Reconnaissance Group was activated at Shaw.
• 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.
• As a result of the end of the Cold War, the Air Force made several dramatic changes with the inactivation and re-designation of wings and their units.
• 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 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 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.