Nonstop flight route between Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Zhanjiang, Guangdong, China:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States and Zhanjiang Airport (ZHA), Zhanjiang, Guangdong, China would travel a Great Circle distance of 8,557 miles (or 13,772 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 Zhanjiang 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 Zhanjiang 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):

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 20th FG was reassigned to Langley AFB, Virginia on 1 December 1951 in preparation for a permanent overseas deployment to RAF Wethersfield, England to support NATO.
• The 66th TRW was formed at Shaw from the RB-26 assets of the 18th TRS and RF-80s transferred from South Korea.

Facts about Zhanjiang Airport (ZHA):

• In addition to being known as "Zhanjiang Airport", other names for ZHA include "湛江机场" and "Zhànjiāng Jīchǎng".
• Because of Zhanjiang Airport's relatively low elevation of 125 feet, planes can take off or land at Zhanjiang 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.
• Zhanjiang Airport (ZHA) currently has only 1 runway.
• The furthest airport from Zhanjiang Airport (ZHA) is Diego Aracena International Airport (IQQ), which is nearly antipodal to Zhanjiang Airport (meaning Zhanjiang Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Diego Aracena International Airport), and is located 12,378 miles (19,921 kilometers) away in Iquique, Chile.
• Zhanjiang Airport handled 488,835 passengers last year.
• The closest airport to Zhanjiang Airport (ZHA) is Beihai Fucheng Airport (BHY), which is located 72 miles (116 kilometers) WNW of ZHA.