Tracking

[richardd 0]

What methods do you use to ensure safe tracking and track direction?

On my first track jump i used a combination of the sun(as slightly cloudy) and ground references to ensure i was tracking 90 degrees from the planes flight path. This assumes you know the planes flight path however.

Assuming i get chucked out anywhere how do i know which is the safest way to track ?

[poohbeer 0]

Stick your head out and look for references before jumping?

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[QuickDraw 0]

I only use a track to clear the jump run (so far),
but i try and watch the last person/group and track 180 degrees to them and 90 degrees to the jump-run if you know what i mean.

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[quade 3]

If you can find a particular spot on the horizon and keep yourself pointed towards it, that works well for most belly-to-earth tracking.

If you're tracking on your back, or at night, then maintaining an angle to the Sun or moon works quite well.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[richardd 0]

Im struggling with the idea of maintaining a heading from exit at 14k potentially over mist/cloud with my limited experience. Maybe its something to practice.
Diving outs a big enough step at the minute!!

How far could you potentially track from 14k out of curiosity?

[quade 3]

Generally speaking even if you weren't tracking the entire time from exit to deloyment, you'd still want to have a certain awareness of your heading. For instance, for you to be able to do really good belly-to-earth RW, it's very helpful for you to maintain heading awareness while moving from one point to the next. If you were to turn too far, say 90 degress instead of 45 degrees, you'd place an extra strain on the other people in the formation to adjust to your errors.

It's a rare occasion (or should be anyway) when you're so devoid of visual referneces that you can not maintain your orientation over the course of the entire skydive. I'll admit it's happened to me and it can be somewhat disorienting.

You probably should limit your cloud jumps as much as possible when certain conditions can not be met. Set some personal minimums and don't be afraid to live by them.

If you are in the sport for any real length of time, you'll accidentally and eventually punch a cloud. In England I'm guessing it won't take long.

As for maximum tracking distances -- a good tracker might be able to cover as far a distance horizontally as they do vertically. From 14,000 a person -might- be able to cover 12,000 feet horizontally. A person in a BirdMan suit that knows what he's doing might be able to cover twice that far.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[QuickDraw 0]

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As for maximum tracking distances -- a good tracker might be able to cover as far a distance horizontally as they do vertically. From 14,000 a person -might- be able to cover 12,000 feet horizontally. A person in a BirdMan suit that knows what he's doing might be able to cover twice that far.

So.. 2 mile tracks are not uncommon then ? :0

And while i'm here Paul, what would you expect an average guy in a wingsuit to cover under the same conditions ? (14000 - 2000)

-- Hope you don't die. --

I'm fucking winning

[quade 3]

Quote

So.. 2 mile tracks are not uncommon then ? :0

I would say that if a person, built for tracking and with good technique, were in a tracking contest from 14,000 to a deployment of 2,000 he might be able to cover about 2 miles.

A "tracking dive" usually comes up a bit short of this (usually quite a bit) because the point is usually to track together and not see how far you can go.

Twice as far is just a rough estimate for a BirdMan suit -- maybe 2.5 times. I don't think it could get 3 times as far unless the person and conditions were exceptional, but again, these are just rough estimates.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[Hooknswoop 19]

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I would say that if a person, built for tracking and with good technique, were in a tracking contest from 14,000 to a deployment of 2,000 he might be able to cover about 2 miles.

I went 2.5 miles from 13,500, crosswind, in a RW suit.

Derek

[Zenister 0]

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So.. 2 mile tracks are not uncommon then ? :0

the in tracking dive that Casch mentioned we landed nearly 3 miles off the DZ...

of course we got out last and two of us turned away to land in the big easy field rather than try to make it back over the heavy forest areas but we still covered something near 2 miles tracking distance without really tracking hard.

unfortunately in the wrong direction....should remember to look down on occasion and check the spot no matter how much fun your currently having...

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

[SAMPLEKSample 0]

Good to see tracking discussed as a safety issue...it gives us control and safe clearance...
Students should have stronger tracking demands to meet, to ensure their safety and commitment to tracking throughout their skydiving lives.

[billvon 2,391]

>Im struggling with the idea of maintaining a heading from exit at
> 14k potentially over mist/cloud with my limited experience. Maybe
> its something to practice.

Do not jump when you can not see the ground well enough to get your bearings! I have done a few wingsuit jumps in such conditions and they were big mistakes. You can cover two miles easily in such a suit and I had no idea where I was going or who I might have been flying into.

[davelepka 4]

Yeah, me too. Except it was a freefly suit, and I went 2.1 miles, but I pulled at 4000ft. But it's almost the same thing.