Tracking

[kallend 2,146]

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ps. booties are cheating on tracking dives

Like grippers are cheating on 4-ways.

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[flyangel2 2]

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I was at Cross Keys on the big ways last weekend.

I thought that on average, the tracking of the participants sucked. For everyone in a decent flat track there were probably 5 just diving away. In my quadrant I saw only a handful who really tracked a long way (like Gary McGuinness and Raider Ramstad). Some of the worst offenders were the old-timers.

My quadrant was great, every one was flat and getting out of town. But then again I was next to Gary and my goal was to try and match him. Seemed to work well for me, pushed me to my limit.

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

[apoil 0]

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The tracking dives I have been on I had to use a delta to stay with them....If I used a max flat track they fell away from me.

This is because there's two kinds of tracking.
1. Tracking for separation (breakoff)
2. Tracking for proxmity (Tracking dives, TRW if you will)

The leader of a tracking dive wont be in his max track because then you would be able to build a formation, no one would be able to catch him.

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So maybe the best way to practice is just do a solo, and really work the body position.

Two ways work really nice. You can get relative, and then one guy will slowly amp it up while the other tries to keep pace. Then you switch roles. Or get on your back, or do over unders, etc.

Tracking dives are nice because you learn the subtleties of the tracking position. How to work levels, How to increase forward speed while maintaining levels. If you can hang with the leader, he usually maxes it out at the end. Sometimes he increases forward speed but doesn't increase lift. I've hit the gas when the leader does and floated right up, but he would outdistance me.

It's a dynamic body position, and way fun, but big ways probably wont help you with your max track.

[Hooknswoop 19]

Here is my article from Skydiving Magazine, minus the figures;

Flat Tracking

Tracking is a maneuver by which a skydiver can add significant horizontal movement to the vertical descent of free fall. It is used to gain separation from other skydivers making it safe to deploy their canopies without risk of collision. Flat tracking is the further refinement of tracking, gaining more horizontal distance for the same amount of altitude lost/used.

The more horizontal distance skydivers can achieve by tracking between the break off and pull altitudes, the safer they are. With the proliferation of very small, highly loaded, ultra high performance canopies, horizontal separation has become more critical. Canopy performance has out-paced tracking skills, especially as the median experience level of pilots flying their first high performance canopy declines. Instead of a skydiver piloting their first small, fully elliptical canopy after refining their tracking abilities over five hundred or more skydives, some skydivers are flying these canopies with less than one hundred skydives. In some cases, their tracking skills may not be up to the task. Body position and stability at opening are more important on high performance canopies, with even a slight turn or unevenness capable of creating line twists. This is sometimes not completely understood by lower experienced skydivers. The higher potential for line twists on opening combined with less than adequate tracking skills and high performance canopies creates a potentially dangerous combination.

Ensuring sufficient separation at pull time starts with setting a break off altitude high enough above pull altitude to give everyone enough altitude to track. Plan your break off altitude for the worst case scenario by starting at the highest pull altitude in the group and working backwards. Add enough altitude to that altitude for tracking, based on the size of the group. The larger the group, the more altitude that is necessary to be set-aside for tracking. Then add in enough altitude to allow enough time for the two highest performance canopies in the group to kick out line twists, while flying directly at each other, and turn away without a collision.

On the flip side of the coin, a very experienced skydiver, due to complacency from an adequate track and separation for the larger, lower performance canopies they have flown for years, over thousands of skydives, is no longer sufficient for the new, high performance canopy they recently purchased. This is not to say their canopy control skills are not up to the task, but the ability to flat track is a critical component to safely flying high performance canopies. Also, it can be difficult for a highly experienced skydiver to admit that their tracking skills need improving to keep the same safety margin they had with their previous, larger canopy.

Flat tracking achieves more horizontal separation by slowing the skydivers fall rate and by creating a low-pressure area near where he reserve pilot chute sits on the back. This low pressure acts as lift, the same way lift is created over the upper surface of an aircraft's wing. Slowing the fall rate and producing lift both decrease the steep-ness of the track, increasing the distance covered for the same amount of altitude used.

Creating the low-pressure area is done by mimicking the shape of an aircraft's wing. In a flat track, as seen from the side, the upper surface of your body should be shaped similar to the upper surface of a wing. To get a good experience of this body position, get permission from the owner and/or pilot of a twin otter first. Explain to them what it is you want to do and have them show you how to climb up on top of the wing without damaging the aircraft. Then lay on the wing facing forward with your chin even with the leading edge of the wing. Matching the curve of the wing in free fall generates lift, producing a flatter tack. If a twin otter is not available, find someone to coach you and stand next to the wing tip of your DZ's jump ship and assume the flat tracking position. Have your coach use the curve of the wing as a guide to adjust your body position to resemble the curve of the wing.

Slowing the fall rate is achieved by presenting as much surface area towards the ground as possible, "cupping" air. De-arch slightly, tighten the abdomen muscles, point your toes, completely straighten the legs, and shrug the shoulders as far up towards the ears and down towards the ground as possible. Tightening the leg straps on the harness too much will restrict the shrugging of the shoulders, decreasing/limiting flat tracking performance. Of course, do not wear your leg straps so loose as to compromise safety.

Booties on your jump suit improves the initial acceleration of tracking by providing heading control and increases the maximum horizontal distance of a track.

A diving track gains horizontal distance and gives the tracker a sense of security and correct performance from the increase in speed he/she can readily feel. This feeling of security is false, as the tracker could gain more distance using a flat track, and therefore more separation, while feeling less speed.


Jumper "A" and "B" both track for 2000 feet, but because jumper "B" can flat track, he moves farther horizontally than jumper "A" does in a diving track.

Turning away from the formation and diving at break off to generate speed and then into a flat track is not the best technique to gain the maximum separation.

Again jumper "B" will out distance jumper "A" with a flat track. Jumper "A" will arrive at pull altitude before jumper "B".

On every skydive you are presented with an opportunity to practice, experiment and refine your tracking. Never be satisfied with your track, always strive to improve it. If you are going to spend an entire (or good percentage of a skydive tracking, let manifest, the pilot, and everyone else on the aircraft know your intentions. Generally trackers exit last, tracking perpendicular to the jump run for 9 seconds and then turning back in the direction of the drop zone, paralleling the jump run. This should leave plenty of separation from other jumpers. Exiting after a large group may require a longer track perpendicular to jump run before turning to parallel. Make sure, regardless of your position in the exit order, that you do not track over the top of any skydivers exiting before you, or track up under any skydivers that exited after you.

Flat tracking is a survival skill. The sport has recognized the need for more advanced canopy piloting training to curb the growing number injuries and fatalities associated with high performance canopies. Flat tracking training must keep pace with canopy development. The ability to flat track is important even for skydivers that don't fly high performance canopies. Awesome canopy piloting skills are worthless if you in a canopy collision on opening.

Hook

[kallend 2,146]

That is an excellent article.

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.