Nonstop flight route between Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Grayling, Alaska, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Grayling Airport (KGX), Grayling, Alaska, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 3,838 miles (or 6,177 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 Grayling 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 Grayling 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):

• For a brief time, Shaw Field also served as a prisoner-of-war camp.
• The closest airport to Shaw Air Force Base (SSC) is Sumter Airport (SUM), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) ENE of 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 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.
• By 1980, the advent of reconnaissance satellites made the need for tactical aircraft reconnaissance less and less necessary.
• Flying activities at the field began on 22 October 1941 using Vultee BT-13 Valiants.
• The 432nd's mission at Shaw AFB was to assume the reconnaissance training mission that was handled previously by the 363d TRW.

Facts about Grayling Airport (KGX):

• The furthest airport from Grayling Airport (KGX) is George Airport (GRJ), which is located 10,438 miles (16,798 kilometers) away in George, South Africa.
• In addition to being known as "Grayling Airport", another name for KGX is "none".
• Grayling Airport (KGX) currently has only 1 runway.
• Because of Grayling Airport's relatively low elevation of 99 feet, planes can take off or land at Grayling 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 closest airport to Grayling Airport (KGX) is Anvik Airport (ANV), which is located only 18 miles (28 kilometers) SSW of KGX.