LOOK OUT from below

[JustRelax 0]

Got this rule now: If low when doing RW or freestyle break off and track 1,000 feet earlier than agreed break off height to ensure separation.

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Taking risk is part of living well - it's best to learn from other peoples mistakes, rather than your own.

[yoink 321]

the problem with doing that unexpectedly is that the others in your group may lose sight of you at the end of the dive and end up tracking over you...
I'd only do this if you have prearranged tracking directions as suggested by Obelix (I think), otherwise keep an eye on everyone till planned breakoff, pick your clean bit of sky and track hard, flat and fast...

I've found the best experience is doing a few 2 / 3 way tracking dives with some very good trackers - your tracking position will get better by huge amounts every jump as they push you to go flatter and flatter...

[freakydiver 0]

Jeezuz H. Glad no one got hurt. With low timers, it is essential that the breakoff and track be stressed stressed stressed. That was one part of the skydive I was always taught to respect and follow the plan for reagardless of what happened during the rest of the jump. Still - to this day - I treat breakoff and track with the utmost importance, it could mean the difference between doing another jump and going to the hospital without an appendage, or worse.

-- (N.DG) "If all else fails – at least try and look under control." --

[JustRelax 0]

but if I track off earlier, wont I get more distance so that others above would not be able to track over me?

________________________________________
Taking risk is part of living well - it's best to learn from other peoples mistakes, rather than your own.

[yoink 321]

in a perfect world, where everyone has the same distance track over a given height and where everyone sticks to the dive plan, you would be out of the way... however, in the real world it depends how well you track and what everyone else does - if the people above you can track further than you cos they're flatter, or if they decide to break a little early for some reason, you could still find yourself near each other at pull time.
It's far safer in small groups to know where everyone is at break off and track to a clear bit of sky. I'm not sure about larger groups - I'd guess at staged breakoff.

I think the best general advice i've heard regarding breakoff, is that if you can't be together as a group at breakoff due to inexperience /fall rate differences, wait until you can till you do the jump...

(Edit: This isn't meant as a dig - I'm prettty inexperienced myself, but I've been told this because I suggested the same idea you had to a more experienced jumper - he sat me down over a beer and explained why it was a bad thing)

[PhreeZone 20]

In larger groups you won't be invited on the dive if you have a habit of going low and can not make it back to the formation. If you go low instead of tracking off, spend the entire skydive fighting to get back up to the formation. Go to the superman position and dearch. Remember that you should be about 20 feet to the side of the formation and turning your head to the side (not looking straight up) to keep an eye on the formation. Fight to get back to the formation while keeping an eye on it right up till break off. If you are always low and can't stay with the group either get coaching on slow fall rates or adjust your jumpsuit so that you float more.

There are only a few people I can't catch up to and track with at my DZ, there are lots of people I could give a 3-4 second start and I would blow by them like they are sitting still and I'm not that good.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[happythoughts 0]

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but if I track off earlier, wont I get more distance so that others above would not be able to track over me?

Another danger is that you might track far enough to track into another group that exited before/after you. However, the basic danger is that people who are tracking do not know where you are.

On really big-ways, the breakoff is staged with different breakoff altitudes and different pull altitudes. It was noted that people on the inside could possibly out-track the people on the outside who started earlier by 1000 ft.

[davelepka 4]

***he never tracked off, just dumped

And so did you aparently

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After re-reading the posts, I've got to ask how the hell you came up with that conclusion?

[Scrumpot 1]

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but if I track off earlier, wont I get more distance so that others above would not be able to track over me?

No, not necessarily. I have been on a jump where I was a part of the "second wave" to break off & track, to only find myself rapidly over-taking someone off the 1st-wave who:

1. Probably tracked "down" more than flat/horizontally than he thought he was.

Which also

2. Made his track nowhere near as far (horizontally) as he had thought he went!

Fast, flat tracking is a skill worth working on (and being aware of)!

-Grant

coitus non circum - Moab Stone

[JustRelax 0]

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but if I track off earlier, wont I get more distance so that others above would not be able to track over me?

Will it work as long as I track across the line of flight and as long as I have a good flat track?

Remember it's a defensive move. If, even though I should do everything to avoid it, I end up low nearing break off and am SURE I cant get up.

________________________________________
Taking risk is part of living well - it's best to learn from other peoples mistakes, rather than your own.

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[happythoughts 0]

It is always best if others know where you are.

[billvon 3,006]

> but if I track off earlier, wont I get more distance so that others
>above would not be able to track over me?

Unlikely. The skills required for a good track are similar to the ones required to stay with a formation; it's likely that an early track would just cause the jumper to dive and arrive at pull altitude that much sooner. The solution to both is to learn to fly (and track) flat.