Is there a way to track your forward speed??

[Viking 0]

I was just wondering if there is a way to record that just shy of rapping your self in tin foil and scaring the shit out of the radar oporators!
I swear you must have footprints on the back of your helmet - chicagoskydiver

[quade 4]

There has been work done with GPS. However, you really need to know the uppers accurately for any truely meaningful numbers.
Garmin makes a couple of small GPS receivers that are suitable for recording data for later analysis. Or if you just wanna do the math in your head, you can take one up and look at the readout under canopy (be careful and make sure the skies are clear -- duh!) For instance, a couple of weeks ago I took my Garmin eTrex up and did a solo hop-n-pop at 11.5 -- 1 mile west of the DZ. Checked out the differences in ground speed flying north and flying south in brakes and in full flight. Kind of nerdly fun, but then I've been told that I'm the biggest nerd at the DZ so it kind of fits.
If you're really interested in doing more detailed stuff for tracking dives and such, I believe if you do a search of rec.skydiving you find a few articles. Should be some specific examples and recommedations as to GPS units and computer software for analysis.
Paul
http://futurecam.com

[apoil 0]

I believe there are GPS based devices used for hang gliders, paragliders and ultralights that will track your flight path. These would probably be workable in a birdman suit. Depending on their resolution (whether they are accurate to 5 feet or 50 feet) they would also work for regular skydivers, but they are probably a few hundred dollars or more.

[AggieDave 6]

I'm sure you could get a rough estimate using the spot from climb out and spotting yourself when you pull. A map, a little geometry and you could sort of figure it out. Yes, I know that this is very innacurate, but you save a few hundred bucks on a GPS. Unless you buy one, use it and return it...
Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.-General George Patton-