Nonstop flight route between Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Malatya, Turkey:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Malatya Erhaç Airport (MLX), Malatya, Turkey would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,073 miles (or 9,773 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 Malatya Erhaç 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 Malatya Erhaç 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 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.
• The 432nd's mission at Shaw AFB was to assume the reconnaissance training mission that was handled previously by the 363d TRW.
• Shaw Air Force Base is named in honor of World War I pilot 1st Lieutenant Ervin David Shaw.
• As a result of the August 1992 destruction of Homestead AFB Florida by Hurricane Andrew in September 1992, the 31st Fighter Wing's 309th Fighter Squadron was initially evacuated to Shaw AFB prior to the hurricane making landfall.
• 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.
• Shaw Army Airfield was designated a permanent Army Air Forces instantiation after the war, being transferred to Continental Air Forces on 16 April 1945.
• On 1 April 1945 jurisdiction of Shaw Field was transferred to First Air Force.
• In October 1942, the flight training was changed to Advanced flying training and AT-6 Texan single-engine and Beech AT-10 twin-engine trainers were used.
• The closest airport to Shaw Air Force Base (SSC) is Sumter Airport (SUM), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) ENE of SSC.

Facts about Malatya Erhaç Airport (MLX):

• Malatya Erhaç Airport (MLX) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Malatya Erhaç Airport (MLX) is Adıyaman Airport (ADF), which is located 53 miles (85 kilometers) SSE of MLX.
• On June 22, 2012, the Turkish Air Force reported that a RF-4E Phantom reconnaissance jet operating from Erhaç went missing over the Mediterranean sea near Syria, with witnesses in the Syrian town of Latakia reporting an aircraft had been shot down by Syrian air defenses.
• In addition to being known as "Malatya Erhaç Airport", another name for MLX is "Malatya Erhaç Havaalanı".
• The furthest airport from Malatya Erhaç Airport (MLX) is Totegegie Airport (GMR), which is located 11,298 miles (18,182 kilometers) away in Mangareva, Gambier Islands, French Polynesia.