Freefly 100 — Establish freefly foundations

The checklist

1. Plan the jump

1.1

State the jump's single declared objective and success criteria.

1.2

Plan the working heading 90° to jump run, naming the perpendicular ground references to be used for drift checks.

1.3

Confirm exit order and separation with the load using ground-covered logic (guide: freefly exits after belly groups when jump run is into wind; separation from ground covered by the aircraft, never a fixed second count).

1.4

State the breakoff/end-of-work altitude (guides: ≥5,000 ft up to a 4-way; ≥5,500 ft for 5 or more, most modern jumpers plan 5,500 ft for any freefly group and will generally not accept 4,500 ft), the deployment altitude, and the hard deck.

1.5

Brief the solo protocol for the jump: the positions permitted, the static-turn plan, and the cork-recovery response.

2. Prepare

2.1

Complete the freefly gear audit on own equipment against the published checklist: hand-deploy BOC or pull-out with a genuinely tight pouch, bridle fully covered, riser covers and pin flaps tight, closing loop in good condition, cutaway and reserve handles secure, leg-strap bungee fitted, harness and chest strap snug, suit secured clear of the handles, hard helmet, goggles, visual altimeter, AAD recommended.

2.2

Confirm two functioning audibles, set to the briefed altitudes, before boarding any solo freefly jump, regarded in this curriculum as mandatory best practice: an audible is a hidden device that can fail silently, a group provides altitude-awareness redundancy, and a soloist has none.

2.3

Rehearse the vertical recovery position on the ground, five repetitions eyes-open and five eyes-closed, without correction on the final set.

2.4

Check own pins, handles and BOC in the aircraft before exit, restating the jump run.

3. Perform

3.1

Exit and establish a stable neutral back-fly within 5 seconds of leaving the aircraft, eyes on the coach (flying belly-down as the visual reference).

3.2

Maintain heading ±45° and level with the coach for 10 seconds in the neutral back-fly.

3.3

Perform a 360° back-fly turn in each direction, stopping on the spot within ±45° of the start heading (finishing in the same quadrant), returning eyes to the coach and maintaining level.

3.4

Barrel roll from the back to belly, keeping the coach in sight on completion.

3.5

Follow the coach through the fall-rate range, from belly through fast-knees to sit-fly speeds, staying on level on the back throughout. Back-fly is the recovery position for both head-up and head-down, so its usable speed range needs to be large; staying on level through the coach's whole range is how that range is proven.

3.6

Adopt the vertical recovery position immediately on the briefed coach signal or on any loss of control, resuming work only when stable.

3.7

Check altitude at least every five seconds and after every manoeuvre.

4. Complete

4.1

Initiate breakoff at the briefed altitude (within −0/+300 ft), ceasing all working manoeuvres.

4.2

End the jump per the briefed protocol. With a coach or on any group jump: transition to a track 90° from jump run, washing off vertical speed before reaching deployment altitude. On a solo 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. 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 checking airspace above, below and behind.

4.4

Fly the agreed canopy separation plan.

5. Review

5.1

Debrief against the declared objective using video.

5.2

Identify one fault and its correction for the next jump.

5.3

Log the jump with a reflection on what was learned, naming the unit and skills assessed (e.g. "FFP-F100 skills assessment"), plus criteria results and equipment serviceability notes, including both audibles.

Criteria in bold are safety-critical: they protect the flyer and everyone else on the load. A coach should not sign off the course while a bold criterion is Not Yet Satisfactory, however good the rest of the flying. Outside a course they are strongly recommended practice. Regulation stays with your federation and your drop zone.

Assessment conditions

• Sky jumps from 10,000 ft or higher (recommended, the APF006 3.2 guide).
• Tunnel work can stand in for the back-fly and recovery-position criteria where it meets the same standard. The flyer flies the assessment jumps in the sky, including breakoff, track and deployment.
• Video of every assessment jump, with the flyer identifiable: coach-flown, outside or ground-to-air. An assessment is valid only with video.
• Equipment: gear that passes this course’s freefly gear check, a visual altimeter, a working audible (two for any assessment jump flown on your own), and an AAD (recommended).
• Conditions within the flyer’s cleared limits.
• The assessor is a freefly coach current in foundational freefly coaching, using this checklist. Each criterion is marked Satisfactory or Not Yet Satisfactory.
• Before the assessment jumps, the assessor checks the ground knowledge by oral or written questions against the case-study set.
• The questions cover the gear check and why each item matters at freefly speeds, corking and the speed difference, the recovery position, the breakoff guides, exit order and separation, the protocols for jumps on your own, tunnel to sky, the six incidents, deployment at freefly speeds, and setting altitudes from the ground up.
• The evidence guide: at least 6 sky jumps through the full plan, prepare, fly, finish and review cycle, at least 4 of them with the back-fly criteria (3.1–3.7), over at least two days or conditions, within a 6-month window. Two consecutive jumps meet all criteria without coach assistance or prompts, and the recovery position is shown on every assessment jump.
• Tunnel time can replace up to 2 skill-development jumps, never the assessment jumps: 10 minutes or more of back-fly to the same standard (neutral, fall-rate range, heading control) plus the recovery-position drill.
• The gear check is done without help on a rig with at least one planted fault, which the flyer finds.
• For experienced entrants, a challenge assessment: one video-recorded jump against elements 1–4, the planted-fault gear check, and the oral check on jumps on your own and the case studies. Supporting evidence: a logbook showing breakoff and deployment discipline, tunnel records (International Bodyflight Association Level 2 back-fly or a school equivalent), and a video portfolio of back-fly and the recovery position.
• An entrant who plans head-down jumps on their own also shows daffy ability: tunnel video of a stable head-down daffy with turns, or a coach-observed static daffy and slow static turn.
• A national freefly crest or grade (in Australia the head-up or head-down crest, in the UK FF1 or FF2) can credit the air-skill criteria. The entrant still completes the gear check, the knowledge check on jumps on your own and the planning criteria. Never skip the two-audible check for jumps on your own: an experienced entrant is as exposed to a silent audible failure as anyone.
• As a guide, it takes at least 6 sky jumps over two days or more.
• Up to 2 practice jumps can be back-fly tunnel sessions of 10 minutes or more.
• If you already freefly, your coach can assess you on one jump, the gear check and questions.

Coaching priorities

• Safety first, then fun, then learning. Hold the bold criteria to the standard above.
• Plan sessions to be enjoyable: flyers choose this expensive hobby, and enjoying it keeps them in the sport. End each debrief on something that went well, with one thing to improve.
• Teach ground and air together as one course: theory in the morning, then structured air work.
• Ask flyers to log each coached jump with a reflection, naming the course and skills assessed (for example “FFP-F100 skills assessment”).
• Teach the protocols for jumps on your own as harm reduction. Coached progression is the recommended path, and the protocols are there for flyers who jump on their own anyway.
• The continuous turn needs no heading control, because holding a heading is an unrealistic ask of someone learning a disorienting new position.
• The daffy reasoning for head-down on your own: a shelf has both legs behind with nothing staged to stop a forward runaway into a back angle, and a straddle recovers from a bump through a brief uncontrolled moment that resolves into a daffy, which is the cork risk with nobody watching.
• The daffy has limits. Its front leg is also the turn generator (APF006 7.5.3), the straddle gives finer high-speed control, and mastery is all three. All three positions are acceptable in the head-down courses. Head-down can be learned entirely in the sky, and the tunnel speeds it up.
• Two audibles do nothing for a misread tone, and more devices mean more tones to confuse, so tone knowledge is part of the check. Progressive altitude cues through freefall are recommended, such as a colour-cue visual altimeter or a spoken-altitude device.
• The tunnel-to-sky points: keep a regular yearly skydive count, step back down after long tunnel blocks, two audibles plus visual checks, learn traffic in a structured way before big vertical jumps, think gear, pins and jump run on exit, and a tight BOC with repeated pin checks.
• The jump numbers are a guide to how long the course usually takes. Sign off when the flying meets the standard, adjusted for the person and local conditions (Mason Corby’s approach).
• Encourage one direction first, vertical or angles, with at least 8 consecutive jumps of the same type before switching. Practise what you can’t do yet, give body mechanics and aerodynamics equal weight, and stay with one coach. Explain the reason behind every instruction.

• APF Freefly and Angles Guide (APF006, August 2023): entry (Part 1), equipment, planning, exit order and breakoff (Part 3), corking and the vertical recovery position (Part 4), head-up speeds (6.1), and the training table evaluation criteria (Part 8).
• USPA Skydiver’s Information Manual 5-2: back-fly first, the corking speeds, the leg-strap pilot chute hazard, two audibles, and exit order and drift.
• British Skydiving Operations Manual 6.6: entry to freefly training, and back-fly recovery as the first FF1 requirement.
• Matt Boag, “Tunnel & Sky” (Australian Skydiver Magazine 96): the six tunnel-to-sky points, and the container’s pouch and ratings at freefly speeds.
• Australian Skydiver Magazine incident reports behind the six incidents: issue 96 (train-exit horseshoe), 110 and 111 (handles on gripped exits), 111 (a misread audible), 112 (a harness-stretch reserve fire and a camera wrap), and 109 for the line-twist figures.
• The premature-deployment pattern in Australian Skydiver Magazine issues 55, 57, 74, 77, 78, 81 and 83, and corking named as a freefly hazard in issue 45 (2009).
• Bill Coe on setting minimum opening altitudes from the ground up (Australian Skydiver Magazine 111).
• Mason Corby on progression: one path first, eight jumps of a type before switching, one coach who explains why (Australian Skydiver Magazine 82).
• Jake Carlton, “Head Up Angles and the Breakoff Problem” (Skydive Mag): GPS data on head-up breakoffs. In a modelled 6-way, about 268 ft and 1.4 s of separation head-up slow and about 392 ft and 2.7 s head-up fast, against 690–1,165 ft head-down.
• International Bodyflight Association progression (the Level 2 back-fly standard), Skydive University (the eyes-open, eyes-closed rehearsal), Alethia Austin on practising freefly on your own (Skydive Mag), Skydive Arizona (the recovery ladder, corking numbers and group sizes) and Fury Coaching (flying the hill).
• The Freefly Project’s advice for jumps on your own: the continuous turn and why it contains drift, the daffy for head-down, no stand head-up, two audibles, and ending without a track.
• APF Operational Regulations (V01-2026) and APF Training Operations Manual (V01-2025), as jurisdictional context.

Regulations change, so each rule is given with its document edition, as context for where you jump.

• Australia (APF). Freefly training requires at least a Certificate Class B (OR 9.2.1(a); APF006 Part 1). Training descents are briefed by an APF Freefly Coach under DZSO authorisation and CI supervision (TOM 5.7.3; OR 11.1.3(d), 11.1.4–11.1.5). In Australia the assessor is an APF Freefly Coach.
• A functioning audible altimeter is mandatory on every freefly descent (OR 9.2.3). Two audibles are recommended by senior Australian coaches (Boag, Australian Skydiver Magazine 96).
• Separation at least 1,000 ft above planned deployment is a regulatory floor (OR 9.1.4).
• A Certificate B holder may freefly on their own or 2-way with DZSO approval (TOM 5.7.1). Before a freefly crest, DZSO approval is required even for a 2-way training descent, and a 3-way is permitted only where the DZSO additionally approves that specific training jump (OR 9.2.2(b)).
• UK. FS1 is required before FF1 training (British Skydiving Operations Manual 6.6.1).
• USA. USPA recommends a licence plus freefly instruction from an instructional rating holder with extensive freefly experience (SIM 5-2.B).
• Elsewhere, the national equivalent.

Acronym key. APF, Australian Parachute Federation. OR, the APF Operational Regulations. TOM, the APF Training Operations Manual. CI, chief instructor. DZSO, drop zone safety officer. USPA SIM, the United States Parachute Association Skydiver’s Information Manual.