Break Off and Tracking

[JohnMitchell 14]

Hooknswoop

Correct. From Head Down, you turn 180-degrees from the center and transition to a back track. This allows you to see the airspace you are going through before flying through it. Then immediately half barrel roll to your belly and track. The back phase is just long enough to clear the airspace you are flying through.

Absolutely. It's the head down equivalent of the belly flyer's 180 degree turn from the center.

[kallend 1,621]

I mostly do big ways these days.

Biggest problem I see is people who simply don't try and have lazy tracks. Tracking isn't relaxation exercise, it is work.

Next is the person who goes low, tracks off early, and doesn't keep going because he/she doesn't realize that someone else who was in the formation might be a better tracker and end up over them without realizing they are down there.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[format 0]

All my trackings ended up higher than wanted (except the one when someone was waving bellow).

How do you guys keep tracking while knowing how high you are, using wrist altimeter?

What goes around, comes later.

[Hooknswoop 19]

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All my trackings ended up higher than wanted

What do you mean?

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How do you guys keep tracking while knowing how high you are, using wrist altimeter?

Personally, the exact altitude while tracking doesn't matter to me. I track until I am clear of other jumper, then I wave off and pull. If I am not clear of other jumpers, I keep tracking. I can see the ground and get a good idea of how high I am from that. I stopped wearing a wrist altimeter years ago, never looked at it except in the plane. Just have an audible set to 5,000 feet.

Derek V

[JohnMitchell 14]

kallend

Biggest problem I see is people who simply don't try and have lazy tracks. Tracking isn't relaxation exercise, it is work.

Yes, it's like planking in midair. You're definitely using a lot of muscles.

And most poor trackers are resistant to any input on how to improve. One person I know, thousands of jumps, basically dives straight at the ground. When I mentioned it to him, he curtly said "That's how I track."

[format 0]

It just bothers me when:
brake off at 4000ft, track to 3300ft, stable-wave-deploy
I don't know when is 3300 exactly because of non-visible wrist altimeter.
That's why I said that I usually stop tracking higher than planned (sometimes it seems like a very long time so I stop).

I wondered if there's some way, maybe tracking with palms up,
to casually check alti while tracking.

What goes around, comes later.

[Hooknswoop 19]

Quote

brake off at 4000ft, track to 3300ft, stable-wave-deploy
I don't know when is 3300 exactly because of non-visible wrist altimeter.
That's why I said that I usually stop tracking higher than planned (sometimes it seems like a very long time so I stop).

Why is this your plan? Why do you plan on 700 feet for tracking? Why not more? Less?

The point of tracking is to gain horizontal separation from the other jumpers in your group. You cannot possible know that it will take exactly 700 feet of tracking to gain enough separation to deploy your parachute. Track until your are clear, wave off, and pull. If you find that a 4,000-foot break off altitude is causing you to be under a fully inflated & functional canopy, break off higher and/or improve your tracking abilities.

If you find you are able to get enough clearance from everyone else and deploy higher than your planned altitude, great! More time to deal with a malfunction, plan your landing pattern, make it back from a long spot, etc.

Derek V

[pchapman 261]

@ format:

Most people buy an audible altitude alert these days...pretty standard equipment. In the old days it was just a matter of mental timing, that got better at using allowed altitude, as one got more practice.

But one can flip a wrist during a track and check one's alti. Quite possible if one has a good track to begin with. See attached.

And there are chest mounted altimeters too - old school on the chest strap, new style on the mudflap.

(Looking forward is however usuually important for most of the track.)

Edit: (The attachment - Most others were deploying already but I was only just about to reach and pull. And I had a mal on my crossbrace that jump. Fun times.)