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scottd818

Dumping in a track?

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I have done it a couple of times by mistake and I am now a lot more careful to give myself plenty of time to slow down.

If you do a tracking dive and get going really fast, it takes a lot longer than some might expect to get slowed back down. 10 seconds for me on a recent jump before my horizontal speed was back to near zero. (GPS data)

Until you max out your horizontal speed, the longer you track (well) the faster you will be going. Just something to remember. You can really get up a head of steam after 15 seconds or more.
Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

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On most large RW jumps, I think there are many people that open while nearly in a track, or very shortly after ending their track. Just a couple or a few seconds after ending their track anyway.
People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

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Its not the malfunctions you need to worry about. Most wingsuiters have more vertical speed when deploying then the average tracker has and they don't have massive amounts of malfunctions.

However deploying with a lot of forward speed can give you really rough openings.


its not so much the forward speed or the vertical speed you have to worry about - but the combination (or vector).

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I love these discussions because what people don't realize is that deploying in a track does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to change the deployment. And here's why:

When you track, you are converting vertical speed to horizontal speed. Key word: Converting. That means, what you take from one, turns into the other. So, if you were falling at 10mph, and started tracking at 5mph horizontally, you are roughly falling 5mph now.

Second thing to consider is that when you deploy, no matter what orientation or speed in which direction you are going makes any difference. Once you pitch your pilot chute, it will go PERFECTLY in line with the relative wind every single time, guaranteed.

The ONLY thing that does change, is the orientation of your body once you deploy. When you deploy normally, your body changes roughly 90 degrees from belly to vertical. When you're tracking, your body changes somewhere closer to 180 degrees and it may "seem" that it is harder or more violent etc.

Fact is, the bad openings are likely caused by poor body position as you body transitions that 180 degrees. I deploy while still tracking, and directly from full wingsuit flight 100% of the time. I have never had a bad, hard or crazy opening as a result of that.
"When once you have tasted flight..."

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I love these discussions because what people don't realize is that deploying in a track does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to change the deployment. And here's why:

When you track, you are converting vertical speed to horizontal speed. Key word: Converting. That means, what you take from one, turns into the other. So, if you were falling at 10mph, and started tracking at 5mph horizontally, you are roughly falling 5mph now.



Granted it doesn't change the deployment but it does change the opening.

I would say the Key word is "Speed". When you track it is really nothing but a vertical dive with a small amount of hotizontal deflection, certainly more with a wing suit. Tracking speeds can reach up over 200 MPH achieving a Dynamic pressure of near 100 pound per square foot. Normal "Q" or dynamic pressire is about 33 pfs. So we tripple the force of the air and if you don't think that won't roll your socks down when you open, enjoy.

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Its not the malfunctions you need to worry about. Most wingsuiters have more vertical speed when deploying then the average tracker has and they don't have massive amounts of malfunctions.

However deploying with a lot of forward speed can give you really rough openings.


its not so much the forward speed or the vertical speed you have to worry about - but the combination (or vector).



Your 3d speed or vector really isnt that much faster if at all. For example, falling straight down @ 120mph is a 3d speed of 120. Tracking @. 6 glide or 60mph forward with a 100mph fallrate, thanks to pythagoras we know is 116. Ifyou flare to pitch, not only do you slow down, converting that speed into more lift. You put yourself into a more head up body position, lessening the swing through of the opening. I almost always pitch in a track, rarely if ever does it cause a problem and i get softer openings.

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Just a point of clarification after a discussion via PM:

My comments remain, however I am referring to a true track, where generally a "beginner" tracker may potentially just be orienting themselves into a head low orientation and building speed. This scenario will result in a higher airspeed and can result in pretty dangerous deployments.

In a true track where you've converted vertical speed into horizontal...deployments should not be affected by anything more than chance. Going head low, or head down...don't deploy unless it's an emergency and prepare for the slammer you're about to get.
"When once you have tasted flight..."

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Its not the malfunctions you need to worry about. Most wingsuiters have more vertical speed when deploying then the average tracker has and they don't have massive amounts of malfunctions.

However deploying with a lot of forward speed can give you really rough openings.


its not so much the forward speed or the vertical speed you have to worry about - but the combination (or vector).



Your 3d speed or vector really isnt that much faster if at all. For example, falling straight down @ 120mph is a 3d speed of 120. Tracking @. 6 glide or 60mph forward with a 100mph fallrate, thanks to pythagoras we know is 116. Ifyou flare to pitch, not only do you slow down, converting that speed into more lift. You put yourself into a more head up body position, lessening the swing through of the opening. I almost always pitch in a track, rarely if ever does it cause a problem and i get softer openings.



I think the answer to the OP’s question might be related to the type of tracking he is talking about. Tracking for 6 seconds away from a RW formation and tracking full blast for 30 seconds on a tracking dive is completely different if you consider the horizontal component a factor.

If someone wants to do some of the math, here is some real data you can play with.

http://pyrodan.privatedata.com/skydive/tracking/tracking-data-sept-1-3.pdf


Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

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i have dumped in a track twice and didnt feel like that were any rougher. i just felt like i swung forward more like when u do a hop and pop how u swing forward. i just wanted to make sure that there were no serious saftey concerns in doin so. thanks for the advice. i jump a pilot and get consistand 600-900 openings and have yet to have a hard opening.

Edited to add: i have never dumped in a track from a full tracking dive. just after a rw and sitfly jump where i was tracking for somewhere between 6-10 seconds. using the data from my altitrack i believe i have a fairly strong flat track. i slow my vertical speed down to the high 70s low 80s. but i do not know what my horizontal speed is.

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In a true track where you've converted vertical speed into horizontal



There is not a 1 to 1 relationship.
People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

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Whether you are tracking on a tracking jump or getting separation from a rw jump, it is still tracking. I can't see any reason to track any differently from one jump to the other. Tracking (i guess technically speaking) should be giving you the most forward speed with the least downward speed. This is what gives horizontal separation. Should we be telling noobs to pitch in a track? Probably not because they are not really tracking. They are mostly going down with some a bit of forward movement.

BODY POSITION is one of the biggest contributors to how your parachute opens. Not whether you are pitching in a track or not.

Physics tells you that a swing of nearly 180 degrees and back will lessen the affects of a hard opening.

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You're right it's not 1:1 but that is the principal. Using downward speed to create forward speed.



That is a long way from meaning that you will reduce your vertical speed as you track. Some will, many do not, or even increase their vertical speed in a track.
People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

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how and what malfunctions can it cause??



I inadvertantly dumped in a track after a speed dive.... talk about a slammer....BANG.. the people on the ground said it sounded like a gunshot when it exploded open. It took me a few seconds to clear my head and let the spots in front of my eyes quit spinning. I blew 5 lines.... and one cell of the Triathlon was trashed...

The whole center of the canopy was a mess. the outer cells were still trying to fly but there was no way I was going to fly that POS. I made sure to clear the lines dangling all around me and then chopped it. I flew my nice big Raven reserve I bought from Skybytch and landed a nice standup in the peas at Mesquite... my first square reserve ride. Brad came running out to check that I was not injured from that loud a BANG... I was a bit sore... and sat and watched everyone else jump for the rest of the day.

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wouldnt dumping in a track just be the same as dumping from a wingsuit jump? i would also think it could be good training for me untill i hit that lucky number 200 jump and can do a auctual wingsuit jump. how do people deploy from a tracking suit jump r they going belly to earth or do they just contine the track all the way thru deployment?

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wouldnt dumping in a track just be the same as dumping from a wingsuit jump?



Sort of. The difference is you can't get the slow vertical speeds without a ws. If you are doing a really good track that slows your vertical speed a lot then deployment isn't bad. BUT, if your not, and just angled down with high vertical speed then it can be a real slammer. It's easier to get soft openings in a wingsuit.
But what do I know?

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