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):

• Shaw Air Force Base is named in honor of World War I pilot 1st Lieutenant Ervin David Shaw.
• 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.
• 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 closest airport to Shaw Air Force Base (SSC) is Sumter Airport (SUM), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) ENE of SSC.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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.

Facts about Darwaz Airport (DAZ):

• Darwaz Airport (DAZ) currently has only 1 runway.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Darwaz Airport (DAZ) is Khwahan Airport (KWH), which is located 54 miles (87 kilometers) SW of DAZ.
• 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)".