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HD303 Coach
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Head Down · Group · The brief

Head-Down 303

Fly the diving slot on a head-down big-way

The diving slot: getting down without arriving at the formation.

What the course is about

You'll learn to fly a diver slot on a head-down big-way, from the exit stack to a stopped dive and a dock from below. Head-Down 302 comes first, because a diver finishes on the same approach a float flies. The organiser runs the jump (Head-Down 401), and this is your job inside it.
In Australia, head-down jumps of more than 3 people need a Freefly Crest (Head-Down), and jumps of more than 10 also need a Star 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.

3.2
Establish the post-exit picture head-down, high and up jump run of the base, wind on the back, eyes on the base.

Can you set the picture after exit head down, high and up jump run of the base, wind on your back and eyes on the base?

3.3
Dive to a point to the side of and below the formation, not at it, arresting the dive before the approach.

Do you dive to a point beside and below the formation rather than at it, and stop the dive before you start the approach?

3.4 Safety critical
Aim a late dive at the front of the formation, never over the top, so any overshoot carries clear of the build rather than into it.

If you are late, do you aim at the front of the formation rather than over the top, so an overshoot carries you clear?

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

3.4
Aim a late dive at the front of the formation, never over the top, so any overshoot carries clear of the build rather than into it.

If you are late, do you aim at the front of the formation rather than over the top, so an overshoot carries you clear?

Everything this course says about breakoff and deployment

1.4
State own breakoff wave, altitude, radial and deployment altitude (the organiser owns the breakoff design, see FFP-HD401).
2.1
Complete a freefly-specific gear check (handles, hand-deploy pouch, riser covers, closing loop, helmet, audible set to own wave and functioning).
2.3
Dirt-dive own exit rotation, dive line, dock and breakoff radial at least twice.
4.1
Initiate breakoff with own wave at the briefed altitude (within −0/+300 ft), regardless of formation completeness.
4.3
Deploy at own wave's briefed altitude after checking airspace (barrel roll only if smooth; if directly above another jumper, deploy rather than out-track).
5.3
Write the jump up naming the unit and slot (e.g. "HD303, diver slot, wave-1 breakoff"), the results and the next objective.

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 only, on organised head-down big-ways, 6-way minimum (recommended), with some jumps at 10-way or larger.
A real group is needed. No criterion in parts 3 or 4 can be shown on a jump on your own or in the tunnel.
Exit altitude 10,000 ft minimum (recommended), higher for big-ways.
Outside video is the most useful diver debrief. Where none is practical, the organiser's observation and other jumpers' footage can carry the debrief, with the flyer identifiable.
Equipment: a visual altimeter, a working audible (two recommended, set to the flyer's wave), an AAD (highly recommended) and freefly-suitable gear.
The assessor is an experienced head-down big-way organiser, or a freefly coach current in the discipline, using this checklist.
Each criterion is marked Satisfactory or Not Yet Satisfactory. Finishing the course is recorded as a milestone.
As a guide, it takes about 8 organised head-down big-ways in a diver slot, 6-way or larger, some at 10-way or larger, across at least two events or days.
The tunnel can drill the dock. The dive needs the sky.
If you already dive on big-ways, bring your logbook, video and a word from an organiser, and fly one jump assessed against the checklist.

Performance evidence

After each jump, call each approach on the video clean, corrected or aborted, and log the slot, any dive-line fault and its fix. You've finished Head-Down 303 when you fly consecutive jumps 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: a diver never drives over the top to save a dock. Debrief a broken-off dive or a safe, low deployment as the right decision.
Sort approaches as clean, corrected or aborted without blame, and end each debrief on something that went well, with one focus for the next jump. Teach the leg-strap bungee check with the carving-collision case behind it.

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 303 course page carries the reasoning, the sources and everything left off here. All briefing cards.