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Head Down · Mastery · The brief

Head-Down 403

Engineer big-way formations

Engineering the shape itself: lanes, stepping and build order.

What this unit covers

Covers designing the formation a head-down big-way builds: choosing the base shape and size, setting the build order (who stings, who docks onto the presented arms, in what sequence), laying out the wacker lines and the head-level stepping, choosing round versus line shapes, and judging when a build is complete.
This is the shape work behind the organiser's job. FFP-HD401 sizes the group, slots people and designs the breakoff; this unit designs what they build. The base flyers (FFP-HD304) hold the shape; the floats and divers (FFP-HD302, FFP-HD303) build it.
The rest of it
Assumes competence organising single-aircraft big-ways. Environment: sky for the jumps; the design is done on the ground.

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.

1.2
Lay out the formation (round or line, wacker lines, approach lanes) so approach lanes do not cross.

Can you lay out a formation so that approach lanes do not cross?

1.3 Safety critical
Engineer the head-level stepping into the build so the formation absorbs closing stingers as a stepped spiral, matched to the group's skill level.

Can you design the head-level stepping so the formation absorbs closing stingers, matched to the skill level in the group?

2.3 Safety critical
Sequence the build inside-out so no flyer stings an unstable edge.

Do you sequence the build from the inside out, so nobody is asked to sting an unstable edge?

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

1.3
Engineer the head-level stepping into the build so the formation absorbs closing stingers as a stepped spiral, matched to the group's skill level.

Can you design the head-level stepping so the formation absorbs closing stingers, matched to the skill level in the group?

2.3
Sequence the build inside-out so no flyer stings an unstable edge.

Do you sequence the build from the inside out, so nobody is asked to sting an unstable edge?

Everything this unit says about breakoff and deployment

3.3
Confirm the design composes with the breakoff plan (waves match the build's outer-to-inner order).

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

Assessed on real designed head-down big-way jumps. The design is assessed on the ground and against the build on video; video is the primary tool for judging whether the shape built. Assessor: an experienced head-down big-way organiser or freefly coach current in the discipline, using the published FFP-HD403 checklist.
Each criterion Satisfactory / Not Yet Satisfactory; unit Competent / Not Yet Competent, recorded as a milestone.

Performance evidence

A guide; competency against the criteria is the standard. A record of designing head-down big-way formations that built and held, across a range of sizes and shapes, learned under an experienced organiser and then solo. Formation engineering is judged by whether the shapes build, not by a jump count.

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). A design that meets closing stingers on a stepped spiral and keeps approach lanes clear is the safety product of this unit, those are non-compensable.
The designer runs debriefs without blame and ends each one on a win with one design change 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 403 unit carries the reasoning, the sources and everything left off here. All briefing cards.