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HD304 Coach
Flyer card Full unit

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Head Down · Group · The brief

Head-Down 304

Fly base on a head-down big-way

Flying base: being the reference everyone else is flying to.

What this unit covers

Covers flying a base slot on a head-down big-way: launching and stacking up the base, steering it onto heading, holding heading and fall rate as the formation's clock, absorbing docks and knocks without corking, and executing the breakoff the organiser designed.
Every float and diver (FFP-HD302, FFP-HD303) sets their sight picture off a base that must not move. This is the authoritative home for the base and exit theory at big-way depth; FFP-HD301 carries the same slot craft at small-group scale.
The rest of it
Assumes HD301; base slots are usually organiser-picked. Sky only.

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.

3.4
Hold fall rate steady as the reference for every approaching flyer, absorbing docks without being driven down.

Can you hold a steady fall rate as the reference for everyone approaching, absorbing docks without being driven down?

3.5 Safety critical
Take a knock without corking, tuck the chin, close the legs and go faster; do not spread the legs.

Can you take a knock without corking: chin tucked, legs closed, going faster rather than spreading?

3.7 Safety critical
Hold the base's slot rather than chasing a lost stinger, a base that moves defeats every sight picture on the load.

Do you hold the base’s slot rather than chasing a stinger who has lost it?

Screen 3 · What blocks a sign-off

What blocks a sign-off

A safety-critical criterion marked not yet stops the sign-off, however good the rest of the flying was. There is no averaging across this line, and no trading a good jump against it.

Safety-critical criteria on the short list

3.5
Take a knock without corking, tuck the chin, close the legs and go faster; do not spread the legs.

Can you take a knock without corking: chin tucked, legs closed, going faster rather than spreading?

3.7
Hold the base's slot rather than chasing a lost stinger, a base that moves defeats every sight picture on the load.

Do you hold the base’s slot rather than chasing a stinger who has lost it?

Everything this unit says about breakoff and deployment

1.3
State the briefed breakoff, own wave, altitude, radial and deployment altitude, confirming own wave banks at least 1,000 ft between breakoff and deployment.
2.1
Complete a freefly-specific gear check (handles, hand-deploy pouch, riser covers, closing loop, helmet, audible set to the base wave and functioning).
2.3
Dirt-dive the launch, heading hold, dock absorption and breakoff sequence at least twice.
4.1
Initiate breakoff at the briefed base-wave altitude (within −0/+300 ft), regardless of formation completeness.
4.2
Break grips, turn 180° from the formation, clear airspace, peel onto the back clearing above, rotate to belly and keep clearing, decelerate, then deploy, turning 180° before tracking, or risk being cut across by another jumper's line.
4.4
Deploy at the base wave's briefed altitude after checking airspace, ready on the rear risers in a crowded column; barrel roll only if smooth.
5.1
Debrief the base's heading, fall rate and breakoff against video.
5.2
Contribute observations of exit, traffic and breakoff to the organiser's debrief.
5.3
Write the jump up naming the unit and slot (e.g. "HD304, Outside Centre, wave-2 breakoff"), the results and the next objective.

Recording a sign-off says what you saw on one jump. It is not a rating, it is not a permission to jump, and it does not replace anything the drop zone requires.

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-way jumps of a recommended 6-way minimum, with some evidence at 10-way or larger. A real group is required. Exit altitude a recommended 10,000 ft minimum, higher for big-ways to give the base build time plus the staged breakoff.
Video: outside footage is the most valuable base debrief; where none is practical, organiser observation and other jumpers' footage can carry the debrief with the candidate identifiable. Equipment: visual altimeter, functioning audible (two recommended, wave-set), AAD highly recommended, freefly-suitable gear.
Assessor: an experienced head-down big-way organiser or freefly coach current in the discipline, using the published FFP-HD304 checklist. Each criterion Satisfactory / Not Yet Satisfactory; unit Competent / Not Yet Competent, recorded as a milestone.

Performance evidence

A guide to how long the base slot usually takes; competency against the criteria is the standard.
Around 8 organised head-down big-way jumps flying a base slot, 6-way or larger, some at 10-way or larger and a couple flown to a staged breakoff, across at least two events or days, with consecutive jumps meeting all criteria without organiser prompts.
Tunnel time cannot substitute, the launch, the stack-up and the staged breakoff exist only in the sky.

Screen 5 · Debrief

Debrief

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

Coaching priorities

Deliver in the project's priority order: Safety → Fun → Learning (curriculum Part A0). Safety criteria are must-meet, the base breaks off on its wave altitude regardless of formation completeness, and a base that holds its slot is doing its job.
The coach runs debriefs without blame and ends each one on a win with one focus for the next jump.

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. Six points is six points forgotten by the next load.

A jump marked not yet is a jump to re-fly, not a failure, and saying so out loud is part of the debrief.

Record this jump

Your notes for this unit

Saved on this device only. Nothing is sent anywhere, there is nowhere for it to go, and no account is involved. They will be here next time you open this card.

This card is a summary. The full Head-Down 304 unit carries the reasoning, the sources and everything left off here. All briefing cards.