On Monday, August 22, 2016 at 4:19:04 PM UTC-6, Auxvache wrote:
This is the sort of dumb aloud-wondering usually reserved for the soaring off-season, but...
How many days or weeks do you think it would take to fly a sailplane across the continental U.S. or Canada? Really fly it--no trailering as has been necessary during the Smirnoff Derby and Return to Kitty Hawk. With the amazing flights being done in all parts of North America these days, I figure it's only a matter of time before someone puts it all together. Presumably retired and with a self-launching motorglider. What route would they take? What should we call the prize?

In the early 70's the Smirnoff Sailplane Derby was held on (I believe) several occasions. In 1972 the route went from LA - Phoenix - Las Cruces, NM - Odessa - Dallas - St Louis - Chicago - Akron - Baltimore. The race participants were top pilots of the day and each day was scored like a contest day. They took two towplanes on the "trip" and they tried to cover the 2,900 miles by soaring approximately 300 miles each day. More info can be found in the Soaring magazine archives. For example, some info on the planning of the 1972 race can be found on page 6 & 7 of the April 1972 edition of Soaring magazine.