Skip to content
F100 Flyer
Coach card Full course

Swipe sideways, or tap the dots. 4 screens.

Foundations · Stability · The jump

Freefly 100

Establish freefly foundations

Back-fly and the recovery position, the base every freefly track is built on.

What the course is about

You'll learn the ground knowledge every freefly course builds on, and fly back-fly and the recovery position. Before it, you need a licence and solid belly skills. In Australia, freefly training needs at least a Certificate B.

What comes before it

Nothing comes before this course. It is where the freefly path starts.

Screen 2 · What you are watched on

What you are watched on

The same short list a coach ticks, in the same words. Nothing is hidden from you.

3.1
Exit and establish a stable neutral back-fly within 5 seconds of leaving the aircraft, eyes on the coach (flying belly-down as the visual reference).

Can you leave the aircraft and be settled on your back, stable and neutral, within about five seconds?

3.2
Maintain heading ±45° and level with the coach for 10 seconds in the neutral back-fly.

Can you hold a neutral back-fly on heading, finishing in the same quadrant, and stay on level with someone else for ten seconds?

3.5
Follow the coach through the fall-rate range, from belly through fast-knees to sit-fly speeds, staying on level on the back throughout. Back-fly is the recovery position for both head-up and head-down, so its usable speed range needs to be large; staying on level through the coach's whole range is how that range is proven.

Can you stay on level on your back while someone else moves through the whole speed range, from belly speed up to sit speed?

3.6 Safety critical
Adopt the vertical recovery position immediately on the briefed coach signal or on any loss of control, resuming work only when stable.

If you become unstable, do you recover to back-fly, in the recovery position, straight away and wait until you are stable before starting work again?

Screen 3 · Safety and altitudes

Safety and altitudes

Everything here is a recommendation with a reason behind it. The drop zone you are jumping at, and your own limits on the day, decide what happens.

Safety-critical items on the short list

3.6
Adopt the vertical recovery position immediately on the briefed coach signal or on any loss of control, resuming work only when stable.

If you become unstable, do you recover to back-fly, in the recovery position, straight away and wait until you are stable before starting work again?

Everything this course says about breakoff and deployment

1.4
State the breakoff/end-of-work altitude (guides: ≥5,000 ft up to a 4-way; ≥5,500 ft for 5 or more, most modern jumpers plan 5,500 ft for any freefly group and will generally not accept 4,500 ft), the deployment altitude, and the hard deck.
2.1
Complete the freefly gear audit on own equipment against the published checklist: hand-deploy BOC or pull-out with a genuinely tight pouch, bridle fully covered, riser covers and pin flaps tight, closing loop in good condition, cutaway and reserve handles secure, leg-strap bungee fitted, harness and chest strap snug, suit secured clear of the handles, hard helmet, goggles, visual altimeter, AAD recommended.
4.1
Initiate breakoff at the briefed altitude (within −0/+300 ft), ceasing all working manoeuvres.
4.2
End the jump per the briefed protocol. With a coach or on any group jump: transition to a track 90° from jump run, washing off vertical speed before reaching deployment altitude. On a solo jump: end the work without tracking, turn 90°, pause, recover to back-fly, slow down, then transition to a belly orientation, dissipating speed over at least 1,000 ft before deployment. A soloist's movement risks are already the dominant hazard; movement at breakoff belongs in formation jumps, where it is practised and needed.
4.3
Deploy at the planned altitude after checking airspace above, below and behind.

The altitudes here are the guides this site recommends, with the reasons on the full course page. Where the drop zone briefs something different, fly what the drop zone briefs.

Screen 4 · After the jump

After the jump

From the course's closing section, review.

5.1
Debrief against the declared objective using video.
5.2
Identify one fault and its correction for the next jump.
5.3
Log the jump with a reflection on what was learned, naming the unit and skills assessed (e.g. "FFP-F100 skills assessment"), plus criteria results and equipment serviceability notes, including both audibles.

One fault, one correction

Before the video, and before anyone else speaks, name the one fault from the jump and the one thing you will change on the next jump. Keep it to one of each, so you have one clear thing to fly.

Write them into your notes at the bottom of this card, and they will be here next time you open it.

Record this jump

You can record the jump yourself, because your own read of your flying is worth keeping. A record counts as verified once a coach signs it.

Your notes for this course

Saved on this device only, with no account. They will be here next time you open this card.

This card is a summary. The full Freefly 100 course page carries the reasoning, the sources and everything left off here. All briefing cards.