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HD404 Flyer
Coach card Full unit

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Head Down · Mastery · The jump

Head-Down 404

Fly open vertical formation skydiving (VFS)

Open vertical formation skydiving.

What this unit covers

Covers flying an assigned slot in open-class Vertical Formation Skydiving: building randoms and blocks from the full competition dive pool at head-down and head-up fall rates, with the grip discipline, fall-rate matching and inter-move craft open class demands.
VFS is the vertical analogue of belly Formation Skydiving, the same randoms, blocks, scoring and rounds, in vertical orientations. Intermediate VFS (the reduced pool, small formations) is FFP-HD305; this unit is the open-class step above it.
The rest of it
It sets the standard a flyer meets to fly open-class slots safely and reliably. Coaching a specific team to a podium is outside its scope. Assumes HD305 and comfort head-down under time pressure. Environment: tunnel for repetition of formations and inter moves; sky for exits, altitude and breakoff.

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.

3.5
Match fall rate precisely at close range, riding the burble interaction between bodies without overcorrecting.

Can you match fall rate precisely at close range, riding the burble between bodies without overcorrecting?

3.6
Build randoms by approaching from outside the formation, never from directly above a head-down slot (into the feet-side burble).

Do you build randoms from outside the formation, never from directly above a head-down slot?

3.7 Safety critical
Recover to a stable solo position on any cork or lost formation, separating laterally rather than holding a failing grip.

On a cork or lost formation, do you separate sideways to a stable solo position rather than hold a failing grip?

Screen 3 · Safety and altitudes

Safety and altitudes

Everything here is a recommendation with a reason behind it, not a rule. The drop zone you are jumping at, and your own limits on the day, decide what actually happens.

Safety-critical criteria on the short list

3.7
Recover to a stable solo position on any cork or lost formation, separating laterally rather than holding a failing grip.

On a cork or lost formation, do you separate sideways to a stable solo position rather than hold a failing grip?

Everything this unit says about breakoff and deployment

1.3
State breakoff and deployment altitudes and the lost-formation plan; VFS breakoff runs higher than belly because the head-down fall rate spends altitude faster.
2.1
Complete a freefly-specific gear check (handles, hand-deploy pouch, riser covers, closing loop, helmet, audible set and functioning).
4.1
Initiate breakoff at the briefed altitude (within −0/+300 ft).
4.3
Deploy at the planned altitude after checking airspace.

Altitudes here are the guides this curriculum recommends and argues for. Where the drop zone briefs something different, the drop zone is what you fly.

Screen 4 · After the jump

After the jump

From this unit's own closing element, review.

5.1
Debrief the draw against the videographer's footage, locating dropped points and their cause (grip quality, inter timing, heading error, fall-rate mismatch).
5.2
Identify one correction to train next.
5.3
Log the jump naming the unit and slot, the points built and the next focus.

One fault, one correction

Before the video, before anyone else speaks: name the single thing that went wrong, and the single thing you will do differently next jump. One of each. A list of six is a list you will not 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

Most records are the flyer's own, and that is the point: your own read of your own flying is worth keeping. A record only counts as verified once a coach signs it.

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 404 unit carries the reasoning, the sources and everything left off here. All briefing cards.