Tracking Question

[LivingLegend 0]

Having no protrack or anything what kind of latteral speeds and distance am I getting up to when I track off for 3-4 seconds after a two way?

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1.618 !

[jakee 1,265]

A protrack can only tell you about vertical speeds not horizontal.
How much horizontal speed and distance you get just depends on how good your tracking position is. Probably the only way to tell would be to get someone to video it.

Now someone with more experience can tell me if I'm right or not.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[feuergnom 22]

if you have no protrack get video as jake suggested

if you'll get a protrack once you can try to read out the data with the jump track software. gives you some nice graphs at least

proper separation is one of the most important things after leaving the plane with somebody else - no matter if it's a two or any more-way. i bet you don't want to have a close call like me and many others due to bad tracking

to sum it up: you can think you track for 4 seconds but still horizontal separation sucks or you can be "miles" away. get video

The universal aptitude for ineptitude makes any human accomplishment an incredible miracle

dudeist skydiver # 666

[LivingLegend 0]

I know it all depends on your posn but I was just looking for a very ballpark idea to try and unerstand separation a bit better.
10 feet? 1000 feet ?
2mph fwd? 20mph?
Ive seen myself on video and there is no reference point, its impossible (for mee) to judge the speed or the distance.

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1.618 !

[mjosparky 3]

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Having no protrack or anything what kind of latteral speeds and distance am I getting up to when I track off for 3-4 seconds after a two way?

If you are only tracking for 3-4 seconds you are getting very little distance. If thats all the time you have for tracking, try breaking off higher.

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[Push 0]

Try doing a tracking dive. Maybe even a solo. If there's a cloudy day with a 7,5-ish ceiling, go do a solo track. They're fun, and they'll show you how well you really track. Remember to plan to pull higher in case your track isn't as good as you think. Remember to keep looking at the ground to see where you're going and when you will get there. I'm not an instructor, this is just a suggestion.

In my limited experience, even the best track doesn't start immediately. You need maybe 2 seconds for the track to really get going, which only leaves 1-2 seconds of actual working track if you're only tracking for 3-4 seconds. Thus, even the best track won't give you much separation in this case.

-- Toggle Whippin' Yahoo
Skydiving is easy. All you have to do is relax while plummetting at 120 mph from 10,000' with nothing but some nylon and webbing to save you.

[cvfd1399 0]

Question there brother. After this thread and recent events on my rw jumps I want to do a 14k solo tracking jump. Assuming 20mph winds on jumprun minimal changes on the way down, and track in one direction the whole time. The exit order would be best to get out last and track into the wind the same way jumprun was running(assuming a headwind jumprun) that way once you track way upwind and deploy it can help bring you back? Or track up jumprun for a while then turn 90 degrees and track for the rest so you don't go out so far? As you know I fly a MT1-XX canopy that has a ok glide and I can sit in brakes like a buzzard caught in a thermal if that helps the decision out any. Thanks

[Zenister 0]

why do a solo?? you'll get waaaaay more feedback from a 2 or 3 way..

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Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[mjosparky 3]

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Question there brother. After this thread and recent events on my rw jumps I want to do a 14k solo tracking jump. Assuming 20mph winds on jumprun minimal changes on the way down, and track in one direction the whole time. The exit order would be best to get out last and track into the wind the same way jumprun was running(assuming a headwind jumprun) that way once you track way upwind and deploy it can help bring you back? Or track up jumprun for a while then turn 90 degrees and track for the rest so you don't go out so far? As you know I fly a MT1-XX canopy that has a ok glide and I can sit in brakes like a buzzard caught in a thermal if that helps the decision out any. Thanks

I would get out last and after exit peel off the the left and track 90 degrees to jumprun. Out last will put you up wind and turning 90 will keep you from going to far. Keep an eye on where you are and adjust as necessary. jmo
Sparky
I think you are going to find a track from 14 grand will kick your ass.

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[cvfd1399 0]

B/C I am 312 out the door and noone that I jump with could keep up with me. Although I guess they could try.

[cvfd1399 0]

X4 That is what I will do on my next jump. As far as the ass kicking goes bring it on lol. I work out based on skydiving movements. I.E. 1.5 hour cardo, then hard work on lats and triceps(flares) quads and back(for squatting with that 47 lb MT on my back) and then a general overall. If it burns after the jump then I know what to work on more Joking

[Zenister 0]

no way..they may have to adjust fall rates, but if your really trying to track other experienced trackers should be able to keep up..

without a stable reference point it is nearly impossible to tell how well (or badly) you are tracking...

edit: tracking for a whole dive will kick your ass...it is all about achieving the best, most perfect wing shape possible and wings fly better when they are ridged.. if you aren’t hurting after a full on tracking dive it was really slow or you aren’t tracking hard enough...

I love it when someone kicks a tracking dive right out off the door... at 6'4" and 180 i tend to 'crab' track with most people on most dives...... it makes me lazy when someone really punches it....

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Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[LivingLegend 0]

Ive done a few jumps when I did nothing but track as long as I could and it was a great buzz.

My question still remains tho, what kind of distances can be covered in a track. Like how much separation in yardage can be expected when you peel off ?

I know this is "how long is a piece of string" question but I just want to start to get some perspective.
Offer up some numbers as an example someone ?

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1.618 !

[jakee 1,265]

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wings fly better when they are ridged

Rigid?
A ridged /\/\/\/\ wing probly don't go too well.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[DrewEckhardt 0]

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Having no protrack or anything what kind of latteral speeds and distance am I getting up to when I track off for 3-4 seconds after a two way?

Not enough (it takes a while to accelerate). Tracking for a full thousand feet would be better. If that would put you below your intended deployment altitude, break-off higher.

[Zenister 0]

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wings fly better when they are ridged

Rigid?
A ridged /\/\/\/\ wing probly don't go too well.

lol thats what i get for trusting auto correct...

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Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[Zenister 0]

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Having no protrack or anything what kind of latteral speeds and distance am I getting up to when I track off for 3-4 seconds after a two way?

Not enough (it takes a while to accelerate). Tracking for a full thousand feet would be better. If that would put you below your intended deployment altitude, break-off higher.

what he said... Freefliers get to 'cheat' when trasitioning from HD into a track.. the 'extra' speed makes seperation faster....... and contributes to some freefliers not tracking as well as they should when they dont have that extra boost....

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Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[kallend 1,660]

If you don;t want to pay for video, break off 2000' higher than normal, track your normal amount, stop, turn around, and see where he other guy is. Is he far enough away? Alternatively do a coach jump and get the coach to watch your track.

If you're a beginner I doubt you're going very far in 3 - 4 seconds.

...

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

[LivingLegend 0]

Well thank you all for your posts, some very useful,
but, I wasnt asking about separation or anything.

I was just curious as to how fast a track can get up to thats all, 2mph, 20mph, 100mph ?

In all these replies no one has offered up a number!

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1.618 !

[ps5601 0]

When I started jumping I was told that on a good track you could get up to 60mph in horizontal motion. I have no idea how this was calculated, or by whom, or if it was just made up by them! It is however, a number as requested.

60mph sounds a little high to me, but I know that 30 - 40 mph is pretty easy to reach (this is a guess based on the speed at which I have seen formations break and people scoot passed me when they have hit the brakes too late).

Blue skies

Paul

[billvon 2,453]

>I was just curious as to how fast a track can get up to thats all,
> 2mph, 20mph, 100mph ?

A good track can reach 50-60mph. During the 300 ways I had 20 seconds to track (6000-2000) and could cover around half a mile.