Nonstop flight route between Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Alajeró / San Sebastián, Canary Islands, Spain:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States and La Gomera Airport (GMZ), Alajeró / San Sebastián, Canary Islands, Spain would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,710 miles (or 5,971 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 La Gomera 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 La Gomera 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 Army Airfield was designated a permanent Army Air Forces instantiation after the war, being transferred to Continental Air Forces on 16 April 1945.
• 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.
• On March 23, 1953, the 432d Tactical Reconnaissance Group was activated at Shaw.
• The 66th TRW was formed at Shaw from the RB-26 assets of the 18th TRS and RF-80s transferred from South Korea.
• Flying activities at the field began on 22 October 1941 using Vultee BT-13 Valiants.
• On 9 August 1990, the 17th and 33d TFS of 363d TFW became the first F-16 squadrons to deploy to the United Arab Emirates in Operation Desert Shield.
• The closest airport to Shaw Air Force Base (SSC) is Sumter Airport (SUM), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) ENE of SSC.
• Jurisdiction of Shaw was again transferred to Tactical Air Command on 23 March 1946.

Facts about La Gomera Airport (GMZ):

• In the year 1962, the island had a lot of sanitary assistance problems, so studies to build an airport in the island were started, but this project was not carried out until 1975.
• Finally, in the 1980s, problems with wounded evacuations necessitated building an airport in the island, and on 27 July 1987 an agreement for the construction of the airport was signed.
• Because of La Gomera Airport's relatively low elevation of 716 feet, planes can take off or land at La Gomera 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.
• In addition to being known as "La Gomera Airport", another name for GMZ is "La Gomera Airport ODB".
• La Gomera Airport (GMZ) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from La Gomera Airport (GMZ) is Norfolk Island Airport (NLK), which is nearly antipodal to La Gomera Airport (meaning La Gomera Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Norfolk Island Airport), and is located 12,116 miles (19,499 kilometers) away in Norfolk Island, Australia.
• The closest airport to La Gomera Airport (GMZ) is Tenerife-South Airport (TFS), which is located 39 miles (63 kilometers) E of GMZ.