Nonstop flight route between Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Qamdo Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China:
Departure Airport:
Arrival Airport:
Distance from SSC to BPX:
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- About this route
- SSC Airport Information
- BPX Airport Information
- Facts about SSC
- Facts about BPX
- Map of Nearest Airports to SSC
- List of Nearest Airports to SSC
- Map of Furthest Airports from SSC
- List of Furthest Airports from SSC
- Map of Nearest Airports to BPX
- List of Nearest Airports to BPX
- Map of Furthest Airports from BPX
- List of Furthest Airports from BPX
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX), Qamdo Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,976 miles (or 12,836 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 Shaw Air Force Base and Qamdo Bamda Airport, 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 Shaw Air Force Base and Qamdo Bamda Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SSC / KSSC |
Airport Name: | Shaw Air Force Base |
Location: | Sumter, South Carolina, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 33°58'23"N by 80°28'22"W |
View all routes: | Routes from SSC |
More Information: | SSC Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | BPX / ZUBD |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Qamdo Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, China |
GPS Coordinates: | 30°33'12"N by 97°6'30"E |
Area Served: | Qamdo, Tibet, China |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 14436 feet (4,400 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from BPX |
More Information: | BPX Maps & Info |
Facts about Shaw Air Force Base (SSC):
- Upon activation at Shaw, the 20th FW assumed the personnel and equipment of the inactivated 363d Fighter Wing.
- 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 20th FG was reassigned to Langley AFB, Virginia on 1 December 1951 in preparation for a permanent overseas deployment to RAF Wethersfield, England to support NATO.
- 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 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.
- 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.
- Flying activities at the field began on 22 October 1941 using Vultee BT-13 Valiants.
- 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 66th TRW was formed at Shaw from the RB-26 assets of the 18th TRS and RF-80s transferred from South Korea.
Facts about Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX):
- The closest airport to Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX) is Yushu Batang Airport (YUS), which is located 158 miles (254 kilometers) N of BPX.
- Because of Qamdo Bamda Airport's high elevation of 14,436 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at BPX. Combined with a high temperature, this could make BPX a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
- The furthest airport from Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX) is Viña del Mar Airport (KNA), which is located 11,747 miles (18,904 kilometers) away in Viña del Mar, Chile.
- Visitors are warned before landing to move slowly on leaving the plane and that they may feel light headed or dizzy because of the thin air.
- Qamdo Bamda Airport (BPX) currently has only 1 runway.
- In addition to being known as "Qamdo Bamda Airport", other names for BPX include "昌都邦达机场" and "Chāngdū Bāngdá Jīchǎng".