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

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport (XFW), Hamburg, Germany would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,385 miles (or 7,057 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 Hamburg Finkenwerder 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 Hamburg Finkenwerder 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.
• The 363rd Fighter Wing was inactivated at Shaw AFB on 31 December 1993, and the next day, 1 January 1994, the 20th Fighter Wing inactivated at RAF Upper Heyford and reactivated without personnel or equipment at Shaw AFB, returning to the base it had left for duty with NATO forty-one years earlier.
• Jurisdiction of Shaw was again transferred to Tactical Air Command on 23 March 1946.
• 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.
• The 432nd's mission at Shaw AFB was to assume the reconnaissance training mission that was handled previously by the 363d TRW.
• Shaw Field was activated on 30 August 1941 and placed under the jurisdiction of the Army Air Corps Southeast Air Corps Training Center.
• On 25 June 1953, the 66th TRW departed Shaw, being reassigned to Sembach Air Base, West Germany.

Facts about Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport (XFW):

• The furthest airport from Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport (XFW) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,707 miles (18,840 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The closest airport to Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport (XFW) is Hamburg Airport (HAM), which is located only 9 miles (15 kilometers) NE of XFW.
• Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport (XFW) currently has only 1 runway.
• A large spares centre is also maintained at Hamburg, and A320 Family maintenance training facilities can also be found on-site.
• In addition to being known as "Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport", another name for XFW is "Flugplatz Hamburg-Finkenwerder".
• Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport is a private airport in the quarter of Finkenwerder, in the southwest part of Hamburg, Germany.
• There are no public flights to and from the airport.
• Because of Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport's relatively low elevation of 23 feet, planes can take off or land at Hamburg Finkenwerder 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 airfield was built about 10 years after World War II, originally as a factory airfield.