Nonstop flight route between Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Datong, Shanxi, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Datong Yungang Airport (DAT), Datong, Shanxi, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,245 miles (or 11,659 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 Datong Yungang 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 Datong Yungang Airport. 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 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.
• 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.
• On 23 September 1949 the 161st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron was transferred to the 20th from the 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at Langley AFB Virginia.
• Shaw Air Force Base is named in honor of World War I pilot 1st Lieutenant Ervin David Shaw.
• Shaw Field was activated on 30 August 1941 and placed under the jurisdiction of the Army Air Corps Southeast Air Corps Training Center.
• 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.
• The 432nd's mission at Shaw AFB was to assume the reconnaissance training mission that was handled previously by the 363d TRW.
• Flying activities at the field began on 22 October 1941 using Vultee BT-13 Valiants.
• 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.
• 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.
• On 9 August 1990, the 17th and 33d TFS of 363d TFW became the first F-16 squadrons to deploy to the United Arab Emirates in Operation Desert Shield.

Facts about Datong Yungang Airport (DAT):

• In addition to being known as "Datong Yungang Airport", other names for DAT include "大同云冈机场" and "Dàtóng Yúngāng Jīchǎng".
• The closest airport to Datong Yungang Airport (DAT) is Zhangjiakou Ningyuan Airport (ZQZ), which is located 89 miles (144 kilometers) ENE of DAT.
• The furthest airport from Datong Yungang Airport (DAT) is Antoine de Saint Exupéry Airport (OES), which is nearly antipodal to Datong Yungang Airport (meaning Datong Yungang Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Antoine de Saint Exupéry Airport), and is located 12,345 miles (19,868 kilometers) away in San Antonio Oeste, Argentina.
• Datong Yungang Airport (DAT) currently has only 1 runway.
• Datong Yungang Airport handled 117,423 passengers last year.