Newbie 0 #1 June 18, 2003 this weekend i did 4 solo tracking jumps to practice my tracking for breakoffs as i've never done anything like this before (apart from maybe 1 or 2 jumps where i would do a little 10 second track, turn 180 track back) Anyway i wanted to just hold the position for as long as possible and see where it took me. I ended up averaging about 95-98mph fall rate and ended up about 3/4 to 1 mile away from the dz. Someone on my loads said i seemed quite far away on opening, but i dont know if i was maxing out my horizontal separation or just slowing down vertical descent. Is that sort of distance any good from a 13k exit to a 4k opening? Whats like the average fallrate of good maxed out trackers and what sort of distance can a good tracker fly over 9000 odd ft? On a side note, godDAMN this was a fun type of jump to do. I had a beautiful experience of seeing a cloud at 9000ish ft and trying desperately to "beat" it, but just ended up puffing through the top end of it! I think i got a small idea of what you WS flyers love so much! "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BlueEyedMonster 0 #2 June 18, 2003 Keep working on it! Depends on your physical build. I am one of those tall skinny guys that is built like a sailplane. I am attaching a map that has the (approximate) path of a track dive I did last weekend. I exited from a King Air over the numbers on the end of the runway on a 360 jump run. And yes, the satellite image is an old one; but at least the runway is there. I have averaged around the same fall rate as you, but I have also maintained a good 79-80 vertical fall rate through portions of a jump I clocked. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mccordia 74 #3 June 18, 2003 A good way to see your horizontal speed is to do a 2 way, and seperate a little higher (5000 or so), and ask your buddy to stay in his spot while you track away. Just track to 3000 ft or so, and you'll be able to see (between your legs) how fast/far he's moving away from you...JC FlyLikeBrick I'm an Athlete? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Newbie 0 #4 June 19, 2003 damn! According to that image you tracked about 15 miles?! Is that right, or am i reading that wrong?? "Skydiving is a door" Happythoughts Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tonto 1 #5 June 19, 2003 Or carry a GPS which will give you top and average ground speed, as well as distance covered, position etc. There's a quarter mile between three quarters and a mile. That's a long way. I use a Garmin Venture. tIt's the year of the Pig. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DexterBase 1 #6 June 19, 2003 Reading it wrong. There's a . in front of that 5 on the scale. Also, since there's 5,280 feet in a mile, the runway length puts it into perspective also. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BlueEyedMonster 0 #7 June 19, 2003 Quotedamn! According to that image you tracked about 15 miles?! Is that right, or am i reading that wrong?? you are reading it wrong.... the scale is .5 miles. So I did somewhere between a mile and a half to 2 miles. QuoteOr carry a GPS I do that too sometimes. I use a Garmin Etrex Vista. It has a barometric altimeter in it and will also log altitudes through the path of the track. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
