Nonstop flight route between Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Darwaz, Badakhshan, Afghanistan:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Darwaz Airport (DAZ), Darwaz, Badakhshan, Afghanistan would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,106 miles (or 11,436 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 Darwaz 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 Darwaz 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 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• On 1 April 1945 jurisdiction of Shaw Field was transferred to First Air Force.
• 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.
• Jurisdiction of Shaw was again transferred to Tactical Air Command on 23 March 1946.
• The 432nd's mission at Shaw AFB was to assume the reconnaissance training mission that was handled previously by the 363d TRW.
• 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.
• On 25 June 1953, the 66th TRW departed Shaw, being reassigned to Sembach Air Base, West Germany.
• The closest airport to Shaw Air Force Base (SSC) is Sumter Airport (SUM), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) ENE of SSC.
• As a result of the August 1992 destruction of Homestead AFB Florida by Hurricane Andrew in September 1992, the 31st Fighter Wing's 309th Fighter Squadron was initially evacuated to Shaw AFB prior to the hurricane making landfall.

Facts about Darwaz Airport (DAZ):

• Darwaz Airport (DAZ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Darwaz Airport (DAZ) is Khwahan Airport (KWH), which is located 54 miles (87 kilometers) SW of DAZ.
• The furthest airport from Darwaz Airport (DAZ) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,656 miles (18,759 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• Because of Darwaz Airport's high elevation of 4,331 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at DAZ. Combined with a high temperature, this could make DAZ a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
• In addition to being known as "Darwaz Airport", another name for DAZ is "Darwaz Airport (Darwaz)".