Nonstop flight route between Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Pisa, Italy:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Pisa International Airport (PSA), Pisa, Italy would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,689 miles (or 7,545 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 Pisa International 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 Pisa International 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 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.
• Flying activities at the field began on 22 October 1941 using Vultee BT-13 Valiants.
• After the establishment of the United States Air Force as a separate military branch in September 1947, Shaw Army Airfield was renamed Shaw Air Force Base, on 13 January 1948 and the 20th Fighter-Bomber Wing was activated on 15 August 1947 with the implementation of the Hobson Plan.
• By 1980, the advent of reconnaissance satellites made the need for tactical aircraft reconnaissance less and less necessary.
• 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.

Facts about Pisa International Airport (PSA):

• In addition to being known as "Pisa International Airport", another name for PSA is "Aeroporto Internazionale di Pisa".
• In 2006 and 2007 the airport was the fastest growing among Italy's top 15 airports with passenger numbers up 30% in 2006 and 24% in 2007.
• Pisa International Airport handled 4,494,915 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Pisa International Airport (PSA) is Florence Airport, Peretola (FLR), which is located 41 miles (67 kilometers) ENE of PSA.
• Pisa International Airport (PSA) has 2 runways.
• Because of Pisa International Airport's relatively low elevation of 6 feet, planes can take off or land at Pisa International 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 airport resides at an elevation of 6 feet above mean sea level.
• The airport had its own railway station with a service to and from Pisa Central railway station but this was closed on 15 December 2013 to allow construction work to begin on a new fully automatic connection to be known as the Pisa Mover to take passengers to Pisa Central – at the moment a direct bus makes the connection.
• The furthest airport from Pisa International Airport (PSA) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Pisa International Airport (meaning Pisa International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,095 miles (19,465 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.