Nonstop flight route between Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Leh, India:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Kushok Bakula Rimpochhe Airport (IXL), Leh, India would travel a Great Circle distance of 7,520 miles (or 12,103 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 Kushok Bakula Rimpochhe 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 Kushok Bakula Rimpochhe 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 group initially conducted training with two squadrons flying the Republic RF-84F "Thunderflash" and two squadrons Group, was a part of Strategic Air Command from July 1947 – May 1951, at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana as an Air Force Reserve corollary unit under the guidance of active duty units in order to train and maintain currency in reconnaissance operations for its reserve personnel.
• 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 March 23, 1953, the 432d Tactical Reconnaissance Group was activated at Shaw.
• On 23 September 1949 the 161st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron was transferred to the 20th from the 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at Langley AFB Virginia.
• 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 1 April 1945 jurisdiction of Shaw Field was transferred to First Air Force.

Facts about Kushok Bakula Rimpochhe Airport (IXL):

• The furthest airport from Kushok Bakula Rimpochhe Airport (IXL) is Mataveri International Airport (IPC), which is located 11,802 miles (18,993 kilometers) away in Easter Island, Chile.
• The closest airport to Kushok Bakula Rimpochhe Airport (IXL) is Skardu Airport (KDU), which is located 141 miles (227 kilometers) NW of IXL.
• In addition to being known as "Kushok Bakula Rimpochhe Airport", another name for IXL is "कुशोक बकुला रिम्पोचे हवाई अड्डा".
• Kushok Bakula Rimpochhe Airport (IXL) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Kushok Bakula Rimpochhe Airport's high elevation of 10,682 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at IXL. Combined with a high temperature, this could make IXL a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.