Nonstop flight route between Manihi, French Polynesia and Sumter, South Carolina, United States:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between Manihi Airport (XMH), Manihi, French Polynesia and Shaw Air Force Base (SSC), Sumter, South Carolina, United States would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,452 miles (or 8,774 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 Manihi Airport 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 Manihi Airport 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 Manihi Airport (XMH):

• In addition to being known as "Manihi Airport", another name for XMH is "Aérodrome de Manihi".
• The furthest airport from Manihi Airport (XMH) is Khartoum International Airport (KRT), which is nearly antipodal to Manihi Airport (meaning Manihi Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Khartoum International Airport), and is located 12,315 miles (19,819 kilometers) away in Khartoum, Sudan.
• The closest airport to Manihi Airport (XMH) is Ahe Airport (AHE), which is located only 12 miles (20 kilometers) W of XMH.
• Because of Manihi Airport's relatively low elevation of 14 feet, planes can take off or land at Manihi 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.
• Manihi Airport (XMH) currently has only 1 runway.

Facts about Shaw Air Force Base (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 closest airport to Shaw Air Force Base (SSC) is Sumter Airport (SUM), which is located only 7 miles (11 kilometers) ENE of SSC.
• Shaw Army Airfield was designated a permanent Army Air Forces instantiation after the war, being transferred to Continental Air Forces on 16 April 1945.
• 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.
• Following Desert Storm, the 19th and 33d Tactical Fighter Squadrons deployed to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Southern Watch, a coalition effort to enforce the Iraqi "No Fly Zone" south of the 32nd parallel north.
• The 432nd's mission at Shaw AFB was to assume the reconnaissance training mission that was handled previously by the 363d TRW.
• 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.
• On March 23, 1953, the 432d Tactical Reconnaissance Group was activated at Shaw.