Tracking is a technique used by

skydivers Parachuting, including also skydiving, is a method of transiting from a high point in the atmosphere to the surface of Earth with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or parachutes. F ...

during freefall to increase their horizontal speed. Tracking is considered a fundamental skill in the sport because it allows multiple skydivers to gain separation from each other prior to deploying their parachutes. Nearly all licensing organizations mandate a student show proficiency at tracking in order to obtain their skydiving license.

Technique

Although there are many variations of the basic body position it essentially involves the skydiver moving out of the traditional face-to-earth & arched position, and straightening the legs, bringing the arms to the sides and de-arching, using the body to cup the air as a means of providing greater

lift Lift or LIFT may refer to: Physical devices * Elevator, or lift, a device used for raising and lowering people or goods ** Paternoster lift, a type of lift using a continuous chain of cars which do not stop ** Patient lift, or Hoyer lift, mobile ...

. There is debate over what exactly constitutes the most efficient tracking position (providing the best

glide ratio In aerodynamics, the lift-to-drag ratio (or L/D ratio) is the lift generated by an aerodynamic body such as an aerofoil or aircraft, divided by the aerodynamic drag caused by moving through air. It describes the aerodynamic efficiency under give ...

) especially concerning how far (if at all) the skydiver's legs should be spread. Some variations of the tracking position work well for some individuals and not so well for others. Also, when a skydiver gains experience, his or her preferred body position often changes.

Glide ratio

Good trackers can cover nearly as much ground as the distance they fall, approaching a

of 1:1. The fall rate of a skydiver in an efficient track is significantly lower than that of one falling in a traditional face-to-earth position; the former reaching speeds as low as 90 mph, the latter averaging around the 120 mph mark.

Practices

Tracking is regarded as an essential life saving skill for all freefall skydivers engaging in relative work with others, allowing the jumpers to gain horizontal separation after building a formation and before opening their

parachute A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...

s. Accordingly, the greater the number of skydivers on a jump, the better their tracking skills must be. In addition to having to track a longer distance after break-off (tracking away for separation before opening), they also have to be more aware of other jumpers around them and have to be able to track in a straight line away from the center of the formation. Tracking is not however purely a life saving skill; many skydivers participate in ‘tracking dives’ where the whole skydive until break-off will be spent tracking. On all tracking dives there should be a designated leader, usually the most proficient tracker, who will plan the horizontal trajectory of the dive. This serves several purposes; first of all, the other trackers will have a target to chase, gauge their relative horizontal speed on and potentially take grips upon. While considered an area of

freeflying Freeflying is a skydiving discipline which began in the late 1980s, involving freefalling in various vertical orientations, as opposed to the traditional "belly-to-earth" orientation. The discipline is known to have originated when Olav Zipser bega ...

, tracking dives are popular amongst many skydivers across the disciplines. Tracking dives are some of the most accessible and sociable dives that everyone regardless of experience level can take part in. Tracking dives are often planned at the end of the day, and with less emphasis on quantitative results (

formation skydiving Formation skydiving is a skydiving event where multiple skydivers attach themselves to one another by grabbing each other's limbs or by the use of "grippers" on their jumpsuit while free falling through the sky. The goal of this skydiving prog ...

), or on holding difficult and new body positions (

). They are commonly viewed as the most relaxing, low pressure jumps. Atmonauti dives, a.k.a. "Angled flight", are a recently conceived variant with a significantly different body position, giving a far steeper flight angle between traditional track and head down. Tracking and Atmonauti dives are considered by most skydivers (

wingsuiting Wingsuit flying (or wingsuiting) is the sport of skydiving using a webbing-sleeved jumpsuit called a wingsuit to add webbed area to the diver's body and generate increased lift (force), lift, which allows extended air time (parachuting), air time ...

notwithstanding) to go the furthest towards the feeling of ‘true flight’ due to the large horizontal distances covered, the low terminal velocity, and the fact that at such heights the ground does not appear to be approaching at all. On October 5, 2012, the Swiss

Marc Hauser Marc D. Hauser (born October 25, 1959) is an American evolutionary biologist and a researcher in primate behavior, animal cognition and human behavior and neuroscience. Hauser was a professor of psychology at Harvard University from 1998 to 2 ...

set a first world record in speed tracking, a discipline he founded. The measured ground speed was 188.9 mph (304 km/h) over the

dropzone ''Dropzone'' is a horizontally scrolling shooter developed by Archer Maclean (under the name Arena Graphics) for the Atari 8-bit family and published in 1984 by U.S. Gold. It was ported to the Commodore 64, then later released for the Ninte ...

Skydive Empuriabrava Skydive Empuriabrava is the brand that has been commercially operating Empuriabrava Aerodrome (on the Empuriabrava residential estate of the town of Castelló d'Empúries, Costa Brava, Girona (province), Girona province, Catalonia, Spain) since ...

, Spain. Only a specially adapted

skydiving Parachuting, including also skydiving, is a method of transiting from a high point in the atmosphere to the surface of Earth with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or parachutes. For ...

suit was used (no

wingsuit Wingsuit flying (or wingsuiting) is the sport of skydiving using a webbing-sleeved jumpsuit called a wingsuit to add webbed area to the diver's body and generate increased lift, which allows extended air time by gliding flight rather than just ...

, tracking suit, nor additional weights were used)."A specially-developed suit made for this speed flight will support Marc in using his body perfectly and release maximum power."
by Tom Naef, Skydiving Professional, ''Speed Tracking.com'', retrieved February 25, 2014

Safety

Even though inexperienced jumpers often take part on tracking dives, the risks of such dives should not be underestimated. An efficient track can reach horizontal speeds of nearly 100 mph (one experienced diver was witnessed to keep pace with a twin-engine plane as it took off from DeLand Municipal Airport in 1995 thus registering his speed in excess of 115mph). Collisions with other groups or with members of one's own group would result in serious injury or death. For this reason the number of inexperienced jumpers on a tracking dive should be limited by the organizer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tracking (Freeflying) Parachuting