Went to Daniels yesterday. Arranged to meet Mike Cosner there in the PM. Got there to strong conditions at 1P. Spent an hour lopping the higher saplings in the middle, adding to the great job done by previous folks. The slot still needs serious trimming further down. It was hotter than hades and gnats galore. Took a break in the shade. Mike showed up around 2:30P. While I was setting up Jim Kaplan showed up and I had a full launch crew. Launched around 3:45P into a moderate cycle and turned left. Turned back in lift and found a WSW cross on the ridge. Spent the next 2 hours getting beat up in turbulence, getting a max of 1200' over. Spent most of the flight 300' - 600' over. Got outwrestled by turbulence for the first time in my flying career and got turned violently into the mountain. After 1:45 I had had enough. I then saw that Mike had launched and was about 800' over out in front of the launch, while I was down in the corner getting beat up still. So I went over to join him and found ample lift to 700' over. There was a 25 knot headwind, so it was a slow crawl out to the west field. Very turbulent approach at 5:45P resulted in a weak flare and bonking in on the right pneumatic wheel, producing a slightly bent DT. Over at the breakdown area my left tip batten tie broke into two taking the batten out. Great . Mike had a nice landing in the turbulence after getting a half hour for his first flight at Daniels. Jim gave us tired folks a ride up. At launch Randy Weber was setting up, and Nelson Lewis and Rich Lawrence were hanging out. It was still honking at 6:15P. I advised Randy to not fly, so he took my advice and broke down. Nelson and Rich never took their gliders off their car.
. Mike had a nice landing in the turbulence after getting a half hour for his first flight at Daniels. Jim gave us tired folks a ride up. At launch Randy Weber was setting up, and Nelson Lewis and Rich Lawrence were hanging out. It was still honking at 6:15P. I advised Randy to not fly, so he took my advice and broke down. Nelson and Rich never took their gliders off their car.