Head-Down 302 — Fly the float slot on a head-down big-way

Application

Covers one job on a head-down big-way:

• The float slot. You exit outside the aircraft, drop off in clean air, approach the formation from low and behind, and dock from below without floating up into the divers’ airspace. The big-way is built and run by an organiser (that craft is FFP-HD401).
• This card is what a float flyer does inside it. Assumes FFP-HD202 ★ and FFP-HD301, the group foundation is not repeated here. Sky only.
• The tunnel drills the dock, not the exit stack or big-way traffic.

Pre-requisite units

FFP-HD202 ★ and FFP-HD301. RPL route: logbook evidence of float approaches on organised head-down big-ways plus one challenge jump against this card’s criteria.

The overfloating risk

A float approaches from below and stops below. Not for style, because of where the danger sits.

Divers close on the same formation from above, fast. That airspace belongs to them. A floater who carries up and over the base drives into a diver’s line, where the two closing speeds add and the collision can be fatal to both. This is not hypothetical: FFP-HD303 carries a documented case of a flyer going low and floating back up into a formation.

Two things keep the float below the base and out of the diver lane:

• The sight picture. Fly with the base against the sky, “base in the blue”.
  • While there is blue behind the base, you are below it.
  • The moment the base sits against the ground, “base in the green”, you are above it, in the diver lane, too high.
  • Base in the green means get back down and re-approach from below.
• The reaching trap. Reaching forward or down for a grip makes lift, drives you up and away, and makes you reach more. The fix is to fly the whole body onto the grip from two to three head-levels below, arms static.

The criteria below flow from this.

Elements and performance criteria

1. Plan the jump

1.1

State own float slot, approach lane, grips and key responses from the organiser's brief.

1.2

Confirm the exit stack order and own staged drop-off timing (floats released across "ready" / "set" / "and" as briefed).

1.3

Confirm own currency and qualifications against the organiser's entry criteria and the local gates.

1.4

State own breakoff wave, altitude, radial and deployment altitude (the organiser owns the breakoff design, see FFP-HD401).

2. Prepare

2.1

Complete a freefly-specific gear check (handles, hand-deploy pouch, riser covers, closing loop, helmet, audible set to own wave and functioning).

2.2

Walk the exit stack in the mock-up in the briefed order.

2.3

Dirt-dive own exit, drop-off, approach lane, dock and breakoff radial at least twice.

3. Perform

3.1

Exit in the assigned outside-float position and drop off on own staged count, low and behind the base, without contacting the aircraft or another jumper.

3.2

Rotate from a de-powered back-fly attitude to head-down, powering up once the sight picture to the base is set.

3.3

Fly the inverse-stadium approach from low and behind, arriving at a point below the base.

3.4

Keep the base in the blue throughout the approach, sky behind the base at all times, aborting below and re-setting if the base sinks toward the green.

3.5

Hold static arm geometry: fingers below wrists, wrists below elbows, elbows below shoulders.

3.6

Make the final move from 2–3 head-levels below, flying the whole body to the grip without reaching.

3.7

Sting, dock or break in with the briefed grips, gentle pressure, without destabilising the formation.

3.8

Present for the next dock: arm wide of the leg burble, hand in a fist, eyes into the group.

3.9

Recover or abort on any instability or lost slot, back out below and clear, re-approaching only when stable; never recover over the top.

4. Complete

4.1

Initiate breakoff with own wave at the briefed altitude (within −0/+300 ft), regardless of formation completeness.

4.2

Turn onto the assigned radial and track the fan-out arc, shading away from jump run if briefed.

4.3

Deploy at own wave's briefed altitude after checking airspace (barrel roll only if smooth; if directly above another jumper, deploy rather than out-track).

4.4

Fly the briefed canopy separation and landing order.

5. Review

5.1

Debrief own float slot against video, classifying each approach as clean, corrected or aborted.

5.2

Identify any overfloating indicator (base toward the green, reaching, drive over the top) and its correction.

5.3

Write the jump up naming the unit and slot (e.g. "HD302, float slot, wave-2 breakoff"), the results and the next objective.

Bold criteria are safety-critical, strongly recommended must-meet standards within FFP courses, not regulations. On a big-way an overfloat, breakoff or deployment error risks the whole load, not just the flyer, so a Not Yet Satisfactory on a bold criterion makes the unit Not Yet Competent.

Foundation skills

Reading the organiser’s keys and slot brief inside a large group. Altitude and separation numeracy across wave altitudes and closing speeds. Backing out of a slot on a jump that took a whole load to build.

Performance evidence (suggested sufficiency — adjust locally)

A guide to how long the float slot usually takes, not a gate. Around 8 organised head-down big-way jumps flying the float slot, 6-way or larger, some at 10-way or larger, across at least two events or days, with consecutive jumps meeting all criteria without organiser prompts. Tunnel time evidences dock mechanics but cannot substitute for the group jumps.

Knowledge evidence

• Explain the overfloating risk in your own words: why a floater above the base enters the divers’ line, where additive closing speeds make a collision possibly fatal.
• Explain “base in the blue”, and why base-in-green means the flyer is already high and in the diver lane.
• Explain the reaching cycle, and why the fix is to fly the body onto the grip from 2–3 head-levels below.
• Explain staged float drop-offs: releasing on the briefed count gives the base clean air and keeps floats out of each other’s bumps.
• State the float abort protocol, back out below and clear, rebuild on the inverse stadium, never over the top.
• Describe the deployment airspace check and why a mis-set audible defeats a staged breakoff.
• Analyse big-way video to attribute a failed float approach to its cause (overfloat line, reach, broken arm geometry, late power-up).

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, no Element 3 or 4 criterion can be evidenced solo or in the tunnel. Exit altitude a recommended 10,000 ft minimum, higher for big-ways.

Video: outside footage is the most valuable float 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-HD302 checklist. Each criterion Satisfactory / Not Yet Satisfactory; unit Competent / Not Yet Competent, recorded as a milestone.

Coaching priorities

Deliver in the project’s priority order: Safety → Fun → Learning (curriculum Part A0). Safety criteria are must-meet, an overfloat is never traded for a completed dock, and an early back-out is debriefed as a correct decision, not a failure, even on a jump the whole load built. Debriefs classify approaches without blame and end on a win with one focus for the next jump.

RPL evidence set

For experienced float flyers the flying is the evidence. A logbook history of organised head-down big-way float participation; video showing approaches with the base kept in the blue, clean docks and break-ins, and wave breakoffs on the assigned radial; a word from a recognised organiser. A challenge jump against this checklist with the overfloating knowledge covered in conversation completes the picture.

Sources