Nonstop flight route between Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Lesobeng, Lesotho:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Lesobeng Airport (LES), Lesobeng, Lesotho would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,336 miles (or 13,415 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 Lesobeng 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 Lesobeng 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 closest airport to Shaw Air Force Base (SSC) is Sumter Airport (SUM), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) ENE of 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.
• For a brief time, Shaw Field also served as a prisoner-of-war camp.
• The 20th FG was reassigned to Langley AFB, Virginia on 1 December 1951 in preparation for a permanent overseas deployment to RAF Wethersfield, England to support NATO.
• By 1980, the advent of reconnaissance satellites made the need for tactical aircraft reconnaissance less and less necessary.

Facts about Lesobeng Airport (LES):

• The closest airport to Lesobeng Airport (LES) is Semonkong Airport (SOK), which is located only 19 miles (30 kilometers) WSW of LES.
• Lesobeng Airport (LES) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Lesobeng Airport (LES) is Hana Airport (HNM), which is located 11,760 miles (18,926 kilometers) away in Hana, Hawaii, United States.
• Because of Lesobeng Airport's high elevation of 7,130 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at LES. Combined with a high temperature, this could make LES a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.