Required Tracking skills

[d123 3]

I'm doing various formations (RW or FF) with size somewhere between 3-6. In every jump the separation looked homogenous (meaning to me it seems we all have the same distance between eachother on opening). The incident forum made me think that maybe I'm just lucky with the separation we have. Do you know/have any ways of validating that your (or your colegs) tracking skills are more than enough for the formation you're about to build?

Edit to add: Shit, I'm an idiot and I didn't see the other tracking thread that exists right here. My appologies for the spam.

Lock, Dock and Two Smoking Barrelrolls!

[Psychonaut 0]

Take them on a tracking dive?

Stay high pull low

[dragon2 2]

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Take them on a tracking dive?

Meh, on the (admittedly few) tracking dives I've been on, track is not MAX track but more like wingsuiting in brakes with a newbie. IE, flying like that will not help your max tracking skills.

I like filming the "not the best" tracker in whatever team/group I'm filming, myself

ciel bleu,
Saskia

[wildcard451 0]

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Take them on a tracking dive?

Meh, on the (admittedly few) tracking dives I've been on, track is not MAX track but more like wingsuiting in brakes with a newbie. IE, flying like that will not help your max tracking skills.

I like filming the "not the best" tracker in whatever team/group I'm filming, myself

I like calling them out in the debrief personally.

[SPAWNmaster 0]

I used to organize tracking derbys for fun every now and again...really just races to see who could get the furthest by pull altitutde.

But you learn a lot about who you're jumping with...things like how fast they can go, who's floating/falling in their "max track", starting up right out the door, etc.

Might be a good idea and something fun to try.

[sagan 0]

The best way I found to gauge my skills is to jump with someone very experienced that is a known good tracker. Talk to them about what they do and have them track with you as a tracking group at breakoff. if you do a 2 way even better than you can just go track. If part of a larger group, break a bit higher (i.e let everyone know you are doing this) and track with that person. On the ground that person should be able to give you good feedback.

The key to all this is find someone very experienced noting that experienced and talented and instructor are all different categories.

FYI -- there is such a thing as tracking too fast, too far. Find someone that does big ways to explain this to you. I've also seen people track back into other groups. That said most people don't have that problem. Regardless forward, side to side, and backwards awareness is a must and a glance up during your wave off is a good habit to get into although some find it physically troubling to be able to do that and keep track of everything else. If you talk to freeflyers you'll get info about barrel rolls etc. while that technique is fine it's a more advanced technique and generally more suited to when you freefly. Tracking on your back sounds like a great idea until the one time you lose altitude awareness and end up with a cypress fire or worse (its happened).

There did that get you more confused? :)

-Patrick

[d123 3]

I see,
It's like the difference between knowing and doing. It's not important to know the difference it's important to do it! It's the difference that makes the difference!
Do I know it right?

Lock, Dock and Two Smoking Barrelrolls!

[Butters 0]

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Tracking on your back sounds like a great horrible idea ...

You're supposed to be looking for (and avoiding) what is below you, not what is above you ... let the person above you look for (and avoid) you.

"That looks dangerous." Leopold Stotch

[MikeJD 0]

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I used to organize tracking derbys for fun every now and again...really just races to see who could get the furthest by pull altitutde.

But you learn a lot about who you're jumping with...things like how fast they can go, who's floating/falling in their "max track", starting up right out the door, etc.

Might be a good idea and something fun to try.

To me that sounds dangerous in itself.

In all the tracking dives I've been on, one of the jobs of the 'rabbit' has been to try and keep all the trackers within roughly the same airspace, by adjusting the speed and fall rate to be within everyone's range. On breakoff everyone tracks away from the centre (albeit a moving centre) in much the same way as on a regular dive.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but your method seems to rely on some people being better trackers than others, and for separation to occur gradually over the course of the dive. Doesn't that mean that at pull time you may have no idea where the hell everybody is?

[beowulf 1]

Back tracking has it's place. It's a needed skill for head down bigways, but is only used as a transition from head down/driving forward to belly tracking. Assuming a head down turn to 180 degrees from the center of the formation. This is something that requires a lot of practise. I try to do this on all my VFS 4 way training jumps so that I make it a habit. It also keeps me from running into our video guy.
Also a key part of this is adding a brief pause after turning so that you have time to see if there is anyone in the way.

[riggerpaul 1]

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I used to organize tracking derbys for fun every now and again...really just races to see who could get the furthest by pull altitutde.

To me that sounds dangerous in itself.

Tracking contests are conducted completely differently from your common group tracking dives.

Each person is a solo. The next person isn't out of the airplane until separation is adequate.

Of course, you have to have people who can track in a straight line.

Anyway, it isn't just a big group starting all together and seeing who goes the farthest.

[MikeJD 0]

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Tracking contests are conducted completely differently from your common group tracking dives.

Each person is a solo. The next person isn't out of the airplane until separation is adequate.

Of course, you have to have people who can track in a straight line.

Anyway, it isn't just a big group starting all together and seeing who goes the farthest.

Ah, gotcha. If that's what was meant, makes a lot more sense.

[Butters 0]

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Back tracking has it's place ... but is only used as a transition from head down/driving forward to belly tracking

Agreed, it's place during break-off is as a transition to belly tracking.

"That looks dangerous." Leopold Stotch