Birdman suit flying VS tracking...

[OSOK 0]

Hey all.

I'm just seeking some opinions from those that fly birdman suits. Currently, the part of my freefalls I enjoy the most is the tracking... I like everything I've done, but I really can't get enough of tracking away on my coach jumps. However, I'm not sure if this might transfer over into wingsuit flying.

Is there anyone out there that considers tracking a serious discipline and doesn't use a birdman suit (besides the BASE jumpers)? The only thing that might take me away from birdman suits is that you use more than your body to really fly... opposite to plain old tracking. I like the idea of being able to fly just with your body... not extra fabric on a suit.

PS: I'm not considering using a birdman suit anytime in the near/kinda far future... so please no speeches about my low jump number

[MB38 0]

I know many a jumper who loves doing tracking dives and many who won't leave the dropzone without doing at least one. I don't, however, know anybody who considers it to be a "discipline" as much as a skill. Then again, I only know about 30-40 jumpers, so I'm not speaking from a huge social base.

I really don't know what I'm talking about.

[tdog 0]

I know a few people who "specialize" in tracking dives... It takes a lot of skill to fly on your stomach/back relative to others and to lead a dive...

I was just talking a few days ago to an AFF instructor who said, "before I could get my AFF rating I had to do 6 hours of tunnel to get the belly flying skills because I had nearly a thousand jumps, but they were all tracking and freefly."

Notice how he put tracking first??? Maybe it is just our DZ, but the staff (Packers, AFFIs) seem to use tracking dives as the fun jump at the end of the day...

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The only thing that might take me away from birdman suits is that you use more than your body to really fly... opposite to plain old tracking. I like the idea of being able to fly just with your body... not extra fabric on a suit.

I bet you will enjoy wing suits if you enjoy tracking... You speak of "extra fabric", but what is real cool is that modern wing suits are designed to use as little fabric as necessary to make a real efficient airfoil out of your body... So, you are not really just making a kite between your arms or something, you are making your body into a wing...

I have some experience flying wing suits (ok, two jumps because I was demoing a suit/getting instruction at a boogie) - but I immediately felt as if the wingsuit was part of me, not some foreign object...

All I am saying is, if you enjoy tracking, put the wingsuit as something to progress to on your to do list in skydiving as a goal... Once you fly the entire distance of the airport in a few thousand feet and then have to think, "Now where do I go?", you will fall in love.... Or at least I did.

[TomAiello 25]

Slightly off topic (I do think of tracking as a serious discipline, but you already covered me in the disclaimer); you ought to try a Phoenix Fly tracking suit. It's more of the "tracking" feeling than the "wingsuit" feeling, and it's much easier to deal with having less skydiving experience. If the PF suit is too expensive, there's always Smoking Pants.

-- Tom Aiello

[email protected]
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[jerry81 10]

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Is there anyone out there that considers tracking a serious discipline and doesn't use a birdman suit (besides the BASE jumpers)?

There's a sub-discipline of freeflying called atmonauti which is bassically doing relative work (in the sense of doing docks on other people) while moving horizontally across the sky. The body position is a bit different to facilitate fine movements and taking grips, but the speeds are comparable to tracking. Maybe you'd like it, it can be quite fun when you get people good enough to fly formations.

There's also tracking competitions such as the Space Games tracking race (1-on-1, shorts and t-shirt only, get further than the other guy and pull above 3000' is the absic rules) and the Tracking Derby (worldwide rankings based on tracking performance measured by gps) and various other stuff that might get organised at dropzones, as well as 'regular' tracking dives, which can be a fun way to end the day and also, depending on the people you're jumping with, a good learning tool.

I recently had a demo wingsuit and did a week of just ws jumping and while it rocks, it also brings some extra hassles, some limitations and fabric dependancy. Some people also claim it's addictive, but I felt I could quit whenever I wanted. (Or at least I was able to send my demo suit back when the time was up.) I think if you enjoy tracking for the flying sensation (actually going somewhere instead of just down), you're probably in the higher-risk group for getting a wingsuit someday, although it doesn't say anywhere all your jumps should be ws flights...

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[gus 1]

Watch some decent trackers and compare them to crap ones - it is most definitely a discipline (an underdeveloped one) and an awesome skill worth honing! Tracking and swooping are keeping me skydiving.

Gus

Edited because I got all excited and forgot how to spell.

OutpatientsOnline.com

[MarkM 0]

About 1/3rd of my jumps prior to wingsuiting were tracking jumps. I don't know why I liked to track so much, maybe it was covering the ground or just how it felt when you flew through the sky. But it was always what I liked to do most when jumping :)

Unfortunately it's not easy to find people to track with, except for the rare tracking jump at the end of the day. Most people don't consider it a "discipline", just something you do at the end of a jump.

On the up side birdman jumping is like tracking on steriods. So when you can finally get yourself into a wingsuit, you'll be in heaven, and you'll have an entire community of people to flock with that understand what it's like to carve up the sky.

[tso-d_chris 0]

Think of tracking as a naked wingsuit jump! The skills one learns tracking will be very helpful if they go on to learn to fly wingsuits.

Flying a wingsuit is like morphing your body into a canopy, instead of just piloting one from below.

If you are not flying horizontally, you are just falling down!

BTW, careful with your spot on those tracking dives.

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[yuri_base 1]

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The only thing that might take me away from birdman suits is that you use more than your body to really fly... opposite to plain old tracking. I like the idea of being able to fly just with your body... not extra fabric on a suit.

Try (when you're ready, of course) flying just the leg wing (e.g., Prodigy's bottom half, or other wingsuit with wings disconnected and hidden under the shirt). You'll feel 100% free and will be amazed how much thrust you get.

I'm getting horizontal speeds ~140mph and glide ratio 1.15, even without much experience. See attached track (1.95mi horizontally, 8800ft vertically in 50 seconds).

Zooming at 140mph, especially when you pull at ~2K, is quite exciting

Yuri

Android+Wear/iOS/Windows apps:
L/D Vario, Smart Altimeter, Rockdrop Pro, Wingsuit FAP
iOS only: L/D Magic
Windows only: WS Studio

[OSOK 0]

Thanks for all the replies! Today I did my last coach where you chase the instructor on a delta and dock twice. I had to do it twice, but the tracking part was awesome :D

Where does one start learning tracking techniques? Any godo books, websites, etc?

[yuri_base 1]

Watch BASE videos by norwegian trackers. E.g. http://www.skydivingmovies.com/ver2/pafiledb.php?action=file&id=2882
These guys track so well because they want to live So learn from them. And aerodynamics says that the lower aspect ratio of the flying body, the lower the angle of attack for best glide. "Flat track" (about 45 degrees angle of attack) is too inefficient aerodynamically. Search BASE forum here and at blincmagazine.com for tracking tips from norwegians.

Android+Wear/iOS/Windows apps:
L/D Vario, Smart Altimeter, Rockdrop Pro, Wingsuit FAP
iOS only: L/D Magic
Windows only: WS Studio

[OSOK 0]

Yuri. I wacth those videos all the time. It's amazing to see people getting forward motion 2 seconds after jumping into dead air. The videos have made me ask people at the DZ about their tracking style (as if they were wearing wingsuits) compared to a normal track position.
Any thoughts?

[SudsyFist 0]

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Zooming at 140mph, especially when you pull at ~2K, is quite exciting

And it's even moreso if you can do it in just shorts and a t-shirt.

OSOK, don't let anyone just relegate tracking dives to sunset zoofests; there's soooooooo much more to it than that, whether speed/distance, building slot-specific 3D formations, or even turning points. If ya dig it, do it.

[kimgriffin 0]

Tracking jumps can be a blast (and I agree about learing to fly your body) but I think it feels more like flying in a BirdMan suit. YOu can literally carve your wingtip through a cloud. I'd say when you have enough jumps, get instruction from a BMI and see for yourself.

-Kimberly Griffin