Second in our Angle Flying skills articles to help you learn safely…
Tracking Tips 2 – by Matti Miilumäki
What’s the best way to get started with angle flying jumps?
Personally I give big emphasis on off-setting levels already in a belly flying “formation”. No need to have any movement yet but setting second row flyers higher and more forward than the lead flyer. This will teach people that belly flyers in an angle jump should be in front to be in correct level.
What do you need to remember when leading a tracking jump?
An angle jump can be very steep or it can be very flat. This makes it a nice relativity, as you can reach the group even if you fall out from the formation at some point in the jump. We have a wide range of speeds that we can use. So, if you drop low.. you just track flat and you are able to reach the group. This same thing is also the reason why angle jumps can be very dangerous. The differences in speeds can be deadly. On a flat track we drop at very slow speeds of only 180km/h but on a steep dive we can reach speeds of more than 300km/h.
Give us a safety tip for new group trackers
If you tumble at any point of a tracking jump, try to recover into the correct heading. Never ball up. That is not a recovery position for tracking jumps.
Describe an exit on the back
You need to remember that when we enter the airflow from a plane the wind is hitting us horizontally. So, your back-track position must be made so that the head is higher than the hips, then the horizontal air will hit your back.
And from the belly?
It’s exactly the same in belly – the horizontal air should hit your belly and chest when you exit.
When we get into more advanced angle exits, we enter more into head-down in both relatives.. back exit and belly exit.
What’s the safest break-off technique in an angle jump?
As we all know we need to be gradual in our break-offs from an angle/tracking jump. But a very important extra is to transition from your track or angle into a flat track. This will give the flyer more time to track during break-off, which means more distance from other jumpers and that equates to more safety margin.
Where can we come and angle fly with you?
November is the month. I’m coaching at Trackdayz, Skydive Spain, 2-3 November, Level Up, Skydive Algarve, 4-8 November and Track Dayz, Skydive Algarve, 9-10 November.
What do you want to teach at TrackDayz?
Slow is fun =) We don’t have to spend our altitude too quickly. Let’s enjoy a full, long freefall by flying slowly. So we can try out some new disciplines like head-up tracking in a safe and fun way.
What the vibe gonna be like at TrackDayz?
People make the vibe. Let’s make it relaxing and friendly.
Tracking Tips Series
This is part of a series on group tracking and angle jumps…
Tracking Tips 1 – by Efraim Folgerts
Tracking Tips 2 – by Matti Miilumäki
Tracking Tips 4 – by Harry & Alabama Shanker
