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HD201 Coach
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Head Down · Relative · The brief

Head-Down 201

Fly head-down in a 2-way

Head down with one other person, on the level, slot, dock discipline.

What the course is about

You'll learn to fly head-down with one other person: exit together, follow level, approach and dock, fly your coach's signalled transitions, and break off. This follows Head-Down 102, because you need to hold, move and transition head-down before you fly it relative to someone else.
In Australia, head-down training jumps are 2-ways under the direct supervision of a freefly coach who holds the head-down crest.

What comes before it

Screen 2 · What to watch

What to watch

The same short list the flyer sees on their card, in the same words.

3.5
Follow the partner through one level change up and one down, re-establishing level (head-height tolerance) within 3 seconds of each.

Can you follow another flyer through one level change up and one down, back on level within three seconds each time?

3.7
Hold level (head-height tolerance) for 3 seconds, then hold the slot for 3 seconds, before initiating the dock (Level → Slot → Dock).

Do you hold level for three seconds and the slot for three seconds before you start the dock?

3.8
Take a hand-to-hand dock by flying the body to the grip, arms take the grip only, no reaching, without destabilising the partner.

Can you dock by flying your body to the grip, so your arm only closes the grip and never reaches for it?

3.10 Safety critical
Back out to level immediately on any instability during approach or dock, re-approaching only when stable.

If you get unstable on the approach or on the grip, do you back out to level and re-approach only once you are stable?

Screen 3 · What blocks a sign-off

What blocks a sign-off

A safety-critical item marked not yet stops the sign-off, however good the rest of the flying was. The rest of the jump cannot make up for it.

Safety-critical items on the short list

3.10
Back out to level immediately on any instability during approach or dock, re-approaching only when stable.

If you get unstable on the approach or on the grip, do you back out to level and re-approach only once you are stable?

Everything this course says about breakoff and deployment

1.3
State breakoff and deployment altitudes, and the lost-partner plan (guide: 5,000 ft for freefly groups up to 4-way, noting most modern jumpers set 5,500 ft for any freefly group and will generally not accept 4,500).
4.1
Initiate breakoff at the briefed altitude (within −0/+300 ft).
4.5
Decelerate before deployment: pitch the track back up, get big and wide, and listen for the wind noise decreasing, flare like a wingsuiter, star-fish.
4.6
Deploy at the planned altitude after clearing airspace, noting how hard the opening is and learning the timings. A fast, steep, efficient track gains great separation but can leave you outside the container and canopy speed envelopes, risking a hard opening: shredded end cells, broken lines, torn fabric.

Recording a sign-off says what you saw on one jump. Permission to jump, and anything the drop zone requires, stay with the drop zone.

Screen 4 · Conditions

Conditions

Where the evidence is allowed to come from, and how much of it there needs to be.

Assessment conditions

- Sky jumps from 10,000 ft or higher (recommended).
Video of every assessment jump, coach-flown or helmet-mounted, with the flyer identifiable. The debrief and the record both depend on it.
Equipment: a visual altimeter, a working audible, and freefly-suitable gear. An AAD is recommended.
Conditions within the flyer's cleared limits.
The in-air reference is a coach or a proven head-down flyer, never a fellow novice.
The assessor is a freefly coach current in head-down coaching, using the Head-Down 201 checklist.
Each criterion is marked Satisfactory or Not Yet Satisfactory.
Tunnel time can replace up to two skill-development jumps, never the assessment jumps. The record covers at least two different days or conditions, including two consecutive jumps meeting all criteria without coach assistance or prompts, within a recommended 6-month window.
For an experienced flyer, one challenge jump flying the full sequence against the checklist, with the logbook, tunnel records and video as the rest of the record. Existing crests or grades support the record and do not replace the challenge jump. Safety-critical criteria cannot be offset by strength elsewhere.
As a guide, it takes about 6 coached 2-way jumps over at least two days within six months.
Tunnel sessions can replace up to two practice jumps, but the final two are sky jumps.
If you already fly head-down 2-ways, your coach can assess you on one sky jump of the full sequence, with your logbook, International Bodyflight Association Static Level 4 records and video.

Performance evidence

After each jump, debrief the video with your coach and log one fault and its fix. You've finished Head-Down 201 when you fly two jumps in a row that meet everything on the coach's checklist below.

Screen 5 · Debrief

Debrief

Safety first, then fun, then learning. In that order, every time.

Coaching priorities

Safety first, then fun, then learning. Hold the bold criteria to the standard above. Plan sessions to be enjoyable: flyers choose this expensive hobby, and enjoying it keeps them in the sport. Set one objective per jump, and end each debrief on something that went well, with one thing to improve.
Start as the in-air reference and move to flying passively as the skills settle. Brief the in-air hand signals for the transitions and breakoff on the ground.

One fault, one correction

Ask for their read before you give yours. Then leave them with one fault and one correction, in their words if you can get them. One of each is easier to carry onto the next load than six points.

A jump marked not yet is a jump to fly again. Tell them that as part of the debrief.

Record this jump

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 Head-Down 201 course page carries the reasoning, the sources and everything left off here. All briefing cards.