Nonstop flight route between Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Yan'an, Shaanxi, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Yan'an Airport (ENY), Yan'an, Shaanxi, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,516 miles (or 12,095 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 Yan'an 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 Yan'an 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 363rd Fighter Wing was inactivated at Shaw AFB on 31 December 1993, and the next day, 1 January 1994, the 20th Fighter Wing inactivated at RAF Upper Heyford and reactivated without personnel or equipment at Shaw AFB, returning to the base it had left for duty with NATO forty-one years earlier.
• 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 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.
• 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 closest airport to Shaw Air Force Base (SSC) is Sumter Airport (SUM), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) ENE of SSC.
• On 23 September 1949 the 161st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron was transferred to the 20th from the 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at Langley AFB Virginia.
• For a brief time, Shaw Field also served as a prisoner-of-war camp.
• Shaw Air Force Base is a United States Military facility located approximately 8.4 miles west-northwest of Sumter, South Carolina.
• 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 Yan'an Airport (ENY):

• In addition to being known as "Yan'an Airport", other names for ENY include "延安二十里堡机场" and "Yán'ān Èrshílǐpù Jīchǎng".
• The closest airport to Yan'an Airport (ENY) is Lüliang Airport (LLV), which is located 113 miles (183 kilometers) NE of ENY.
• The furthest airport from Yan'an Airport (ENY) is Chos Malal Airport (HOS), which is nearly antipodal to Yan'an Airport (meaning Yan'an Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chos Malal Airport), and is located 12,380 miles (19,923 kilometers) away in Chos Malal, Neuquén, Argentina.