Nonstop flight route between Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Pärnu, Estonia:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Pärnu Airport (EPU), Pärnu, Estonia would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,743 miles (or 7,634 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 Pärnu 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 Pärnu 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 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.
• 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.
• The closest airport to Shaw Air Force Base (SSC) is Sumter Airport (SUM), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) ENE of SSC.
• Shaw Field was activated on 30 August 1941 and placed under the jurisdiction of the Army Air Corps Southeast Air Corps Training Center.
• By 1980, the advent of reconnaissance satellites made the need for tactical aircraft reconnaissance less and less necessary.
• 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.

Facts about Pärnu Airport (EPU):

• The furthest airport from Pärnu Airport (EPU) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,091 miles (17,848 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In the summer of 2010 Estonian Air operated one return flight a week from Stockholm.
• Pärnu Airport is an airport in Estonia.
• In the summer of 1992, the re-constituted Estonian defence ministry took over the military airport, which had drawn down its operations.
• Because of Pärnu Airport's relatively low elevation of 46 feet, planes can take off or land at Pärnu Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
• The airport is often visited by private aircraft from Scandinavia and other European countries.
• The closest airport to Pärnu Airport (EPU) is Tallinn Airport (TLL), which is located 70 miles (112 kilometers) N of EPU.
• Pärnu Airport (EPU) currently has only 1 runway.
• In addition to being known as "Pärnu Airport", another name for EPU is "Pärnu lennujaam".