Nonstop flight route between Château-Thierry, France and Sumter, South Carolina, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome (XCY), Château-Thierry, France and Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 4,234 miles (or 6,814 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 Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome and Shaw Air Force Base, 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 Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome and Shaw Air Force Base. 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 Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome (XCY):

• Because of Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome's relatively low elevation of 723 feet, planes can take off or land at Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome 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.
• In addition to being known as "Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome", another name for XCY is "Aérodrome de Château-Thierry - Belleau".
• Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome (XCY) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome (XCY) is Reims-Champagne Air Base (RHE), which is located 36 miles (57 kilometers) ENE of XCY.
• The furthest airport from Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome (XCY) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is nearly antipodal to Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome (meaning Château-Thierry - Belleau Aerodrome is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Chatham Islands), and is located 12,073 miles (19,430 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.

Facts about Shaw Air Force Base (SSC):

• 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 66th TRW was formed at Shaw from the RB-26 assets of the 18th TRS and RF-80s transferred from South Korea.
• 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.
• 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.
• Shaw Field was activated on 30 August 1941 and placed under the jurisdiction of the Army Air Corps Southeast Air Corps Training Center.
• Upon activation at Shaw, the 20th FW assumed the personnel and equipment of the inactivated 363d Fighter Wing.