Nonstop flight route between Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Guernsey, Channel Islands, United Kingdom:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Guernsey Airport (GCI), Guernsey, Channel Islands, United Kingdom would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,970 miles (or 6,390 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 Guernsey 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 Guernsey 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• By 1980, the advent of reconnaissance satellites made the need for tactical aircraft reconnaissance less and less necessary.
• 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.
• Shaw Army Airfield was designated a permanent Army Air Forces instantiation after the war, being transferred to Continental Air Forces on 16 April 1945.

Facts about Guernsey Airport (GCI):

• The furthest airport from Guernsey Airport (GCI) is Dunedin International Airport (DUD), which is nearly antipodal to Guernsey Airport (meaning Guernsey Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Dunedin International Airport), and is located 12,024 miles (19,350 kilometers) away in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
• Guernsey Airport (GCI) currently has only 1 runway.
• A large number of single and twin-engined light and business aircraft are based at the airport.
• Guernsey Airport handled 886,396 passengers last year.
• On 12 January 1999 a F-27 operating a cargo flight for Channel Express arriving from Luton crashed short of runway 27 after deploying full flap on approach.
• The closest airport to Guernsey Airport (GCI) is Jersey Airport (JER), which is located 24 miles (39 kilometers) SE of GCI.
• Aurigny Air Services has its head office on the airport property.
• Because of Guernsey Airport's relatively low elevation of 336 feet, planes can take off or land at Guernsey 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.