Nonstop flight route between Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Berlin, Germany:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Berlin Tempelhof Airport (THF), Berlin, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,550 miles (or 7,323 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 Berlin Tempelhof 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 Berlin Tempelhof 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 closest airport to Shaw Air Force Base (SSC) is Sumter Airport (SUM), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) ENE of SSC.
• On 25 June 1953, the 66th TRW departed Shaw, being reassigned to Sembach Air Base, West Germany.
• On March 23, 1953, the 432d Tactical Reconnaissance Group was activated at Shaw.
• By 1980, the advent of reconnaissance satellites made the need for tactical aircraft reconnaissance less and less necessary.
• On 23 September 1949 the 161st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron was transferred to the 20th from the 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at Langley AFB Virginia.
• Shaw Field was activated on 30 August 1941 and placed under the jurisdiction of the Army Air Corps Southeast Air Corps Training Center.
• 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 Berlin Tempelhof Airport (THF):

• Operation Vittles, as the airlift was unofficially named, began on 26 June when USAF Douglas C-47 Skytrains carried 80 tons of food into Tempelhof, far less than the estimated 4,500 tons of food, coal and other essential supplies needed daily to maintain a minimum level of existence.
• The furthest airport from Berlin Tempelhof Airport (THF) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,687 miles (18,808 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• Because of Berlin Tempelhof Airport's relatively low elevation of 164 feet, planes can take off or land at Berlin Tempelhof 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.
• Zentralflughafen Tempelhof-Berlin had the advantage of a central location just minutes from the Berlin city centre and quickly became one of the world's busiest airports.
• Tempelhof's German commander, Oberst Rudolf Böttger, refused to carry out orders to blow up the base, choosing instead to kill himself.
• The closest airport to Berlin Tempelhof Airport (THF) is Berlin Tegel Airport (TXL), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) NW of THF.
• Berlin Tempelhof Airport (THF) has 2 runways.
• Tempelhof was often called the "City Airport".
• The new air terminal was designed as headquarters for Deutsche Luft Hansa, the German national airline at that time.
• In addition to being known as "Berlin Tempelhof Airport", another name for THF is "Flughafen Berlin-Tempelhof".
• American Overseas Airlines, at the time the overseas division of American Airlines, inaugurated the first commercial air link serving Tempelhof after the war with a flight from New York via Shannon, Amsterdam and Frankfurt on 18 May 1946.