Nonstop flight route between Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Poitiers, France:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Poitiers–Biard Airport (PIS), Poitiers, France would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,158 miles (or 6,692 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 Poitiers–Biard 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 Poitiers–Biard 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.
• Jurisdiction of Shaw was again transferred to Tactical Air Command on 23 March 1946.
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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 432nd's mission at Shaw AFB was to assume the reconnaissance training mission that was handled previously by the 363d TRW.

Facts about Poitiers–Biard Airport (PIS):

• Poitiers–Biard Airport (PIS) has 3 runways.
• The furthest airport from Poitiers–Biard Airport (PIS) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Poitiers–Biard Airport (meaning Poitiers–Biard Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,189 miles (19,616 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• In addition to being known as "Poitiers–Biard Airport", another name for PIS is "Aéroport de Poitiers – Biard".
• The closest airport to Poitiers–Biard Airport (PIS) is Angoulême - Brie - Champniers Airport (ANG), which is located 59 miles (96 kilometers) S of PIS.
• Because of Poitiers–Biard Airport's relatively low elevation of 423 feet, planes can take off or land at Poitiers–Biard 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.