SLIDER

The only way to better at riding hills is.............riding hills "there's a fine line between hobby and mental illness"

This is a good place to start - Forums, Reviews,parts, bikes www.mtbr.com "there's a fine line between hobby and mental illness"

There's definitely some good reading and advise in both threads, and a lot more jumping and practicing to be done. Some demo canopies will be the way to go before I make my next canopy choice "there's a fine line between hobby and mental illness"

Everyone has given great advise and really appreciate that. I do enjoy all of the skydive however the canopy ride is by far my favorite part. I've talked to my DZO about putting up some gates\lanes and they were not really opposed to the Idea,but there's only a few of us who really are into that type of canopy flight, but I guess the gates could be great for anyone trying to become more accurate. Is there a website or book that show's the proper placement of the gates, for the proper width and such? Thanks "there's a fine line between hobby and mental illness"

I really hadn't ever thought about a competition, but hey, If I don't do anything stupid and take the advise of those who have have already made the mistakes, who knows, I may be good enough to compete some day. In the mean time - Practice, Get training, Practice, ......repeat "there's a fine line between hobby and mental illness"

Thanks for all the great advise - It has definitely given me some great options for choosing correct path to becoming a better canopy pilot. I guess I didn't realize what a great swoop canopy a Sabre 2 could be. "there's a fine line between hobby and mental illness"

Some one else had suggested that I give a Sabre II a try. I think that's a great option and I think I am open minded enough to at least see how it performs. A Sabre II 107 demo might be a great Idea. I will take everyone's advise and use it to my advantage. Again thanks for the constructive advise and not ripping off my arm and beating me with it. "there's a fine line between hobby and mental illness"

All of the info is well taken and I appreciate that it is has all been constructive. The right choice as a next step I think will be to demo a katana of the same size and get an Idea of how that wing performs. Then Maybe I'll decide to just put a few hundred (or more) jumps on my stiletto and really learn to ring that one out before I make the next move. Any other input will certainly be welcomed Thanks Everyone "there's a fine line between hobby and mental illness"

I appreciate the input. I spend a lot of time talking to the other jumpers with more experience than me, and my S&TA. I'm definitely not looking to grind my money or myself into the ground but I do want to continue to hone my canopy skills and I'm trying to find the best wing to do it under "there's a fine line between hobby and mental illness"

I've got about 525 stiletto jumps,135,120,107. I weigh 170 lbs out the door. I did some demo jumps on a velo 96 last summer and really liked the Canopy openings and the way it flew. The way it dives in the turns was exactly what I expected, but I thought it took a little more to get it started turning. I have not jumped a katana and would like some input from those who have jumped a katana and Velo. I'm not in any hurry to get to a cross braced canopy necessarily - however I did like the velo, and I am looking to take another step I would like to take the next step with my canopy flying and I'm looking for a different platform that out performs the stiletto in terms of swoop. Am I not loading my stiletto enough to make it perform well? "there's a fine line between hobby and mental illness"

I love flying my Canopy - If there were no more freefall I would still jump and fly my canopy - I do hop and pops all day long when the clouds are low and we can't get anything up high. Some people just use their canopy as a means to get to the ground after freefall, and that's cool - but my canopy ride is more that half of my skydive. "there's a fine line between hobby and mental illness"

I am a static line instructor and I really love teaching the program ( I also love doing hop & pops ) see where I going with this? All kidding aside I do think it's a great progression into the sport and have seen allot come through and transition into very good skydivers. "there's a fine line between hobby and mental illness"

I do 20 - 25 miles a week Take it slow - build it gradually being consistent with your training is much better that going fast or long as you are starting out. Set goals for your self that are easy to achieve on a weekly or bi-weekly schedule "there's a fine line between hobby and mental illness"

I Have over 1000 dives and have been an instructor for a long time. There are rules and people like to challenge those rules, that's usually when things go bad. Just like in Skydiving - things can happen - but if you take the nec precautions and prepare properly - It's a hell of a good time PM me if you have any specific questions Scott "there's a fine line between hobby and mental illness"

I'm always up for a cold water dive. The Wrecks in the great lakes rock! It's never warmer than about 45 degrees and the Vis is usually pretty good in cold water. Scott "there's a fine line between hobby and mental illness"