On Saturday, December 23, 2017 at 9:48:44 PM UTC-5, flgliderpilot wrote:
Yeah you see some great distances in 1-26's, but they are nearly always out west along a ridge.. with constant good lift. You'll never see these 500KM flights over here in Florida for example, going thermal to thermal at 2500' AGL.

There aren't any ridges out west that are comparable to running the Appalachians.