Nonstop flight route between Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Rovaniemi, Finland:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Rovaniemi Airport (RVN), Rovaniemi, Finland would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,502 miles (or 7,245 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 Rovaniemi 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 Rovaniemi 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):

• In addition to the 363d TRW, Headquarters Ninth Air Force was transferred to Shaw from Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina on 1 September 1954.
• 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 squadrons flew the P-61 Black Widow in Europe with Ninth Air Force during World War II, and were reassigned back to the United States after the end of hostilities.
• The closest airport to Shaw Air Force Base (SSC) is Sumter Airport (SUM), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) ENE of SSC.
• 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.
• Shaw AFB is home base of the USAF 20th Fighter Wing, which flies F-16CJ Fighting Falcons.

Facts about Rovaniemi Airport (RVN):

• Rovaniemi Airport (RVN) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Rovaniemi Airport (RVN) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 10,658 miles (17,152 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of Rovaniemi Airport's relatively low elevation of 642 feet, planes can take off or land at Rovaniemi 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 Rovaniemi Airport (RVN) is Kemi-Tornio Airport (KEM), which is located 64 miles (103 kilometers) SSW of RVN.
• Rovaniemi Airport is the fifth biggest airport in Finland by annual number of passengers, located in Rovaniemi, Finland, about 10 kilometres north of Rovaniemi city centre.
• Rovaniemi Airport handled 309,821 passengers last year.
• In addition to civil traffic the runway is also used by F-18 fighter interceptors of Lapin lennosto.
• In addition to being known as "Rovaniemi Airport", another name for RVN is "Rovaniemen lentoasema".
• The airport was built in 1940 with two grass-surfaced runways.