Head-Down 101

Find and hold vertical head-down

Finding vertical and holding it.

What the course is about

You'll learn to find head-down off the exit, hold it on heading, and recover from instability. This follows Head-Up 102, because you need control of a sit first, and back-fly is the freefly recovery position.

In Australia, head-down training needs at least a Certificate B, with Stage 1 of the Freefly Training Table (head-up) complete.

What comes before it

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.

3.3

Hold a neutral head-down position (straddle, daffy or shelf) for 10 seconds or with a coached reference, holding heading within ±45° and finishing in the same quadrant. More pressure stays on the legs than the arms: the shuttlecock principle.

Can you hold a neutral head-down position for ten seconds, keeping your heading and finishing in the same quadrant, with more pressure on your legs than your arms?

3.4

Perform a controlled back-fly-to-head-down transition, re-establishing vertical within 5 seconds.

Can you go from your back to head down and be vertical again within about five seconds?

3.5 Safety critical

Fly all unaccompanied solo head-down work in a daffy with a continuous slow static turn, never a held heading, never a carve (FFP-F100 solo protocol).

On solo head-down flying, do you stay in a daffy and keep a slow continuous turn running, rather than holding a heading or carving?

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

3.5

Fly all unaccompanied solo head-down work in a daffy with a continuous slow static turn, never a held heading, never a carve (FFP-F100 solo protocol).

On solo head-down flying, do you stay in a daffy and keep a slow continuous turn running, rather than holding a heading or carving?

Everything this course says about breakoff and deployment

1.3

State the work-cease altitude and the deployment altitude. 5,500 ft is standard practice for the work-cease; ≥4,500 ft is the bare guide, and it is always at least 1,000 ft above planned deployment.

4.3

Deploy at the planned altitude, at belly fall rate, after checking airspace.

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

Diagnose one fault (drive direction, asymmetric leg pressure, arm dependence, jerky over-correction) and its correction for the next jump.

5.3

Log the jump in the logbook with a reflection naming the unit and skills assessed (e.g. "HD101 skills assessment"), the criteria results and the next-step recommendation, the curriculum gives log entries meaning.

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.

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This card is a summary. The full Head-Down 101 course page carries the reasoning, the sources and everything left off here. All briefing cards.