Head-Up 101

Fly a stable sit

A stable, neutral sit you can hold, turn in, and take up to a stand.

What the course is about

You'll learn to hold a stable head-up position on heading, change fall rate, turn, and recover from instability. Head-up is the first vertical position to learn in freefly. This follows Freefly 100, because back-fly is the freefly recovery position. In Australia, freefly training needs at least a Certificate B.

What comes before it

Freefly 100

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.

3.3

Maintain heading ±45° (guide) for 10 seconds in the neutral sit.

Can you hold a neutral sit on heading, within about a quadrant, for ten seconds?

3.7

Perform a 360° turn in each direction, stopping within ±45° of the reference heading. A sit turn may be initiated from the arms, from the legs, or from both together; demonstrate at least two of the three, state which was used, and note that combining the two is generally the fastest way to turn.

Can you turn 360 degrees in each direction and stop within about a quadrant of where you started?

3.6 Safety critical

Demonstrate the stand with a visual reference, in the tunnel, or in the sky with a coach or another jumper, returning to the neutral sit without corking. The reference matters: a stand can generate large horizontal movement, and a solo flyer has no way to detect the drift it creates.

Can you take the sit up to a stand and settle back down without corking, and do you only fly it where you have a visual reference such as a coach, another jumper or the tunnel?

Screen 3 · Safety and altitudes

Safety and altitudes

Everything here is a recommendation with a reason behind it. The drop zone you are jumping at, and your own limits on the day, decide what happens.

Safety-critical items on the short list

3.6

Can you take the sit up to a stand and settle back down without corking, and do you only fly it where you have a visual reference such as a coach, another jumper or the tunnel?

Everything this course says about breakoff and deployment

1.4

State the altitude for ending head-up work (breakoff guide: 5,500 ft minimum for head-up jumps) and the planned deployment altitude.

2.2

Verify audible altimeter(s) set and functioning. Two functioning audibles should be regarded as mandatory best practice before any solo freefly: an audible is a hidden safety-critical device that can fail silently, and where a group's breakoff gives you altitude redundancy, a soloist has none.

4.1

Initiate breakoff at the briefed altitude (within −0/+300 ft), ending all head-up work.

4.2

End the jump per the briefed protocol. On a coached/group jump: transition to back-fly, check the airspace above and behind, back-track, then roll to belly and track 90° from jump run, slowing to belly-fall speeds. On a solo consolidation jump: end the work without tracking, turn 90°, pause, recover to back-fly, slow down, then transition to a belly orientation, dissipating speed over at least 1,000 ft before deployment (FFP-F100 solo protocol). A soloist's movement risks are already the dominant hazard; movement at breakoff belongs in formation jumps, where it is practised and needed.

4.3

Deploy at the planned altitude after clearing airspace.

The altitudes here are the guides this site recommends, with the reasons on the full course page. Where the drop zone briefs something different, fly what the drop zone briefs.

Screen 4 · After the jump

After the jump

From the course's closing section, review.

5.1

Debrief the jump against the declared objective using video.

5.2

Identify on video any instance of the three documented fault patterns, backsliding, fallout to back or belly, uncontrolled rotation, and name its body-position cause.

5.3

Write the jump up in the logbook, naming the unit and skills assessed (e.g. "HU101 skills assessment"), with a reflection on the criteria results and one correction for the next jump.

One fault, one correction

Before the video, and before anyone else speaks, name the one fault from the jump and the one thing you will change on the next jump. Keep it to one of each, so you have one clear thing to 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

You can record the jump yourself, because your own read of your flying is worth keeping. A record counts as verified once a coach signs it.

Your notes for this course

Saved on this device only, with no account. They will be here next time you open this card.

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This card is a summary. The full Head-Up 101 course page carries the reasoning, the sources and everything left off here. All briefing cards.