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):

• For a brief time, Shaw Field also served as a prisoner-of-war camp.
• Flying activities at the field began on 22 October 1941 using Vultee BT-13 Valiants.
• By 1980, the advent of reconnaissance satellites made the need for tactical aircraft reconnaissance less and less necessary.
• Shaw Air Force Base is a United States Military facility located approximately 8.4 miles west-northwest of Sumter, South Carolina.
• 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 432nd's mission at Shaw AFB was to assume the reconnaissance training mission that was handled previously by the 363d TRW.
• 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 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):

• In addition to being known as "Berlin Tempelhof Airport", another name for THF is "Flughafen Berlin-Tempelhof".
• With the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany, the presence of American forces in Berlin ended.
• 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.
• Tempelhof's German commander, Oberst Rudolf Böttger, refused to carry out orders to blow up the base, choosing instead to kill himself.
• The 852nd Engineer Aviation Battalion arrived at Tempelhof on 10 July 1945 and conducted the original repairs in the new terminal.
• Berlin Tempelhof Airport (THF) has 2 runways.
• Fearing Allied bombing of airports, all German civil aviation was halted on 2 September 1939, but gradually restarted from 1 November.
• It had two parallel runways.
• The closest airport to Berlin Tempelhof Airport (THF) is Berlin Tegel Airport (TXL), which is located only 8 miles (12 kilometers) NW of THF.
• 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.
• Following the end of the Berlin Blockade, AOA launched additional dedicated scheduled domestic services linking Tempelhof with Hamburg Fuhlsbüttel and Düsseldorf Lohausen from 6 March and 1 June 1950 respectively.