How do you back trackers keep a heading?

[Newbie 0]

I was watching video of a really experienced jumper the other weekend, and his abilty to stay on heading, and then change heading to track in a spiral or change direction is incredible. He occasionally does a quick barrel roll but i have been on tracking jumps he has led where he never has to look down.

How do back trackers keep such a tight heading control without relying on those in the formation to assist them (this guy doesn't do that, he knows how to navigate by himself somehow). Is it just practice or what?

"Skydiving is a door"
Happythoughts

[Jskydiver22 0]

Could be by a lot of practice, but it could also be by him just knowing the land marks around the DZ and by looking at them on his side and between his feet, maybe he just knows where the DZ is.

--I don't even know enough to know that I dont know--

[ccowden 0]

I can feel if I am holding a heading, turning, or drifting. It pretty much just comes down to experience and time in the air. You eventually get to the point where you know what your body is doing without thinking so much or needing to pick something out to keep a heading.

[quade 4]

I can't speak for others, but if you know the location of the Sun it's not that difficult to maintain a heading. This is how most flying insects navigate and why moths are drawn to a flame. On a sunset load it is fairly trivial to put the sun between your feet and know that you're heading somewhat eastward.

Also, if there are mountains somewhere along the horizon, it's possible to maintain a relative angle to them as well.

Lastly, if you tilt your head back while back tracking, you can also see a bit of where you're actually going. Not a bad idea from time to time.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[ccowden 0]

As far as knowing where the dz is, whenever you do a tracking dive you need to really think about where to get out and the heading to take, so you should have a good idea where you are in the sky. For me, it doesn't take much of a glance to the side or down to know where we are at my home dz, simply because of the number of jumps I have done there. Again, it all comes with time and experience.

[klingeme 1]

When I lead a tracking jump, I plan the jump by the jump run. By dong this, I know, in relation to line of flight of the aircraft, which way to head for the first 5-6 seconds of the jump. (If it is a full load, I run it straight with the line of flight, if not, I generally do a 45 to the line of flight.) When I exit, I use the plane to orient my direction.

When you first start leading the jumps and can't naturally keep a heading, rely of the people you are leading to give course corrections, and after you lead several, it will become natural.

Mark Klingelhoefer