Head-Up 101 — Fly a stable sit

Application

• Covers establishing and holding a stable, neutral head-up sit as an individual skill. The unit’s scope: sit exits.
• The all-90° neutral geometry.
• Heading holds in the neutral sit.
• Fall-rate control across the head-up ladder (knee-fly → sit → stag → stand).
• Turns initiated from the arms, the legs, or both together.
• The recovery loop drills (front and back loop).
• The altitude-check discipline.
• And head-up breakoff discipline.

Head-up is generally the first step in the vertical aspect of freeflying, with speeds of roughly 220–260 km/h (APF006 §6.1).

Applies to flyers who have completed Freefly 100 (back-fly control and the vertical recovery position).

Environment: sky, with tunnel drills as preparation and as an evidence route for individual position work (IBA Static Level 3 equivalents).

Supervision: coached. In the tunnel the coach holds the flyer or flies as the reference; on sky jumps the coach is the in-air reference.

Supervision fades to solo consolidation jumps flown under the Freefly 100 solo protocols (working heading 90° to jump run, two functioning audibles, the static-turn drift check). The protocols carry a strong recommendation against solo stand-up flying, a stand can generate large horizontal movement that a flyer with no reference cannot detect.

Pre-requisite units

• FFP-F100 (Establish freefly foundations), in particular back-fly control to the F100 sky standard: a stable neutral back-fly with eyes on the belly-flying coach.
• A 360° each way, stopping on the spot looking at the coach and staying on level.
• A barrel roll back to belly.
• Then a fall-rate follow, staying on level as the coach moves through belly → fast-knees → sit fall rates.

Back-fly is the recovery position, so its usable speed range needs to be large. The vertical recovery position is practised until it is automatic.

RPL route into this unit: tunnel records showing stable back-fly and back↔sit transitions, plus a coached familiarisation jump flown against FFP-F100 criteria.

Elements and performance criteria

1. Plan the jump/session

1.1

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

1.2

Confirm currency, conditions and the planned drill sequence with the supervising coach (guide: one new drill per jump).

1.3

Brief the load on the working heading (set 90° off the stated jump-run heading) and the expected backslide direction.

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. Prepare

2.1

Complete a freefly-specific gear check: handles clear, BOC pouch condition, bridle covered, riser covers and pin flaps secure, closing loop tight, chest strap and harness tight, leg-strap bungee, secured jumpsuit, goggles, hard helmet.

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.

2.3

Rehearse the neutral sit position on the ground: five holds with eyes open, five with eyes closed.

2.4

Confirm exit order and separation with the load (freefly groups after belly groups on an into-wind jump run; separation by ground covered, not a fixed second-count).

3. Perform

3.1

Exit presenting the back to the relative wind and fly the hill into a stable sit within 5 seconds (guide), using minimal inputs.

3.2

Establish the neutral sit geometry: feet flat with even pressure, knees bent 90° at shoulder width, hips at 90° with torso perpendicular, arms out 90° for stability, heels aligned below knees, eyes to the horizon.

3.3

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

3.4

Check altitude between each manoeuvre or at least every 5 seconds.

3.5

Move one rung at a time along the fall-rate ladder knee-fly → sit → stag, holding each rung stable for 3 seconds with even, symmetrical pressure before moving on.

3.6

Demonstrate the stand rung 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.

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.

3.8

Perform the recovery loop drills: from the neutral sit, a front loop (legs tucked under the torso, air on the shins, tuck to a ball) and a back loop, each re-establishing a stable sit on heading (both loops per the APF Training Operations Manual Stage 2).

3.9

Execute the vertical recovery position immediately on any fallout or loss of control, resuming drills only once stable and on heading.

4. Complete

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 belly, slow to belly-fall speeds and track 90° from jump run while checking airspace above, below and behind. 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.

4.4

Fly the planned opening heading and canopy traffic plan.

5. 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.

Bold criteria are safety-critical: the criteria that protect the flyer and everyone else on the load. Within FFP course assessment a coach should not sign the unit off while a bold criterion sits at Not Yet Satisfactory, however good the rest of the flying. Outside a course they are strongly recommended best practice with the reasoning stated. Regulation remains your federation’s and your drop zone’s.

Coaching criteria for the fault patterns (element 5.2 reference table, APF006 §6.8/§6.10; Gale; AXIS):

Foundation skills

• Briefing/debriefing communication.
• Altitude and working-time numeracy (freefly time from 13,000 ft is roughly 20 seconds shorter than a belly jump, plan drill sequences accordingly).
• Planning and organising (one-objective drill sequencing).
• Self-management under stress (recovery discipline, altitude-check habit, recognising fatigue).

Performance evidence (suggested sufficiency, adjust locally)

Ability evidenced across a suggested guide of 8 dedicated head-up jumps. The number is a guide to how long the unit usually takes; competency, not jump counts, is the standard.

Recommended shape: coached jumps alternating with solo consolidation jumps. Consolidation time lets a skill assimilate between coached inputs. The flyer flies the solo jumps under the F100 solo protocols (working heading, two audibles, drift check), because a soloist gives up the redundancy and reference a group provides.

Tunnel time can substitute for up to three of the skill-development jumps (guide: ~15 minutes of coached static head-up tunnel time on the equivalent drills per substituted jump), but not for the sky validation jumps. Evidence should span at least two different days/conditions, including two consecutive sky jumps meeting all criteria without coach assistance or prompts, all within a recommended 6-month currency window.

Knowledge evidence

At this tier the candidate is asked to state, describe and explain:

• Freefly minimums: state the recommended 10,000 ft exit guide and the breakoff guides.
  • General freefly: 5,000 ft up to a 4-way and 5,500 ft for 5-way or larger, noting most modern jumpers use 5,500 ft for any freefly group and will generally not accept 4,500 ft.
  • Head-up groups: 5,500 ft minimum and 6,000 ft for 6 or more, with 10-way-plus head-up being advanced flying where the leader owns the risk decision and should consider going higher.
  • Head-up needs more altitude because a head-up breakoff is less efficient: less power, less track efficiency, and altitude lost rotating to head-down before the track.
  • State also the evidence-backed orientation rule for larger head-up groups: a head-up breakoff cannot buy separation at all in a group of 6 or more, so flyers should be head-first by ~6,500–7,000 ft (Carlton’s GPS data; taught and applied in FFP-AN202).
  • The altitude floor and the orientation rule work together: the 6,000 ft floor is when head-up work ends, and by ~6,500–7,000 ft the flyer should already be head-first.
  • Freefall separation: at least 1,000 ft above planned deployment.
  • Do not read the 6,000 ft guide as a licence to stay head-up below Carlton’s head-first floor.
• Altitude discipline: state the altitude-check discipline (between each manoeuvre or at least every 5 seconds) and why the shorter freefly working time (roughly 20 seconds less than a belly jump from 13,000 ft) demands it.
• Corking: describe corking, the sudden deceleration from head-up speeds (~220–260 km/h) to belly speeds, and why it is a collision hazard for anyone above.
• Recovery and the back-fly foundation: describe the mechanics of the vertical recovery position (back-to-earth, feet together, knees toward chest, arms out and slightly back).
  • Explain why solid back-fly is a genuine head-up foundation: the back-fly de-arch used for fall-rate control transfers directly into head-up out-face carving and layouts, so the F100 back-fly standard is load-bearing for this unit.
  • Period Australian coaching framed the progression as Belly → Back-fly → Sit → Head-Down (Jonathan Townsager, ASM 73 p.27).
• The neutral sit: describe the neutral sit references (all-90° angles, even foot pressure, heels below knees) and how each of the three fault patterns arises from a specific geometry error.
• The fall-rate ladder: state the ladder order (knee-fly → sit → stag → stand) and explain why each rung falls faster: the legs present progressively less surface area, with less inherent stability.
• Solo protocols: state the solo-freefly protocols and their rationale.
  • Two functioning audibles, because an audible is a hidden device that can fail silently and a group’s breakoff is your altitude redundancy, a soloist has neither backup.
  • Working heading 90° to jump run.
  • Briefed backslide direction.
  • The static-turn drift check.
  • Solo stand-up flying is strongly discouraged because a stand can generate large horizontal movement that a flyer with no reference cannot detect.
• Solo end-of-jump protocol: state the protocol and why it differs from a group breakoff.
  • A soloist ends the jump without tracking (turn 90°, pause, recover to back-fly, slow down, transition to belly, deploy): the solo’s movement risks are already the dominant hazard, so adding movement at breakoff is unnecessary risk.
  • Movement at breakoff is practised in formation jumps, where it is needed.
• Exit order and separation: state freefly exit-order and separation logic (faster-falling groups after slower on an into-wind jump run, separation by ground covered).

Assessment conditions

Sky jumps from a recommended 10,000 ft minimum. Video of assessment jumps is required for a valid assessment (coach-flown, helmet-mounted or ground-to-air; tunnel video for tunnel-evidenced components; candidate identifiable). Required equipment: visual altimeter, functioning audible (two, the solo best practice, when assessed on a solo jump), hard helmet, freefly-suitable gear per the FFP-F100 gear standard.

Conditions within the candidate’s cleared limits.

Assessor: a freefly coach current in head-up coaching; tunnel components may be evidenced under an IBA-rated (or equivalent) instructor. Assessment is against the published FFP-HU101 checklist, each criterion marked Satisfactory / Not Yet Satisfactory.

Declare shoulder history before vertical work. Vertical body positions and their transitions load the shoulder joint, and the Australian record carries serious cases from the sit-to-head-down transition specifically: a shoulder dislocation that prevented the flyer reaching the BOC (ASM 56 p.74) and torn shoulder ligaments (ASM 83 p.25).

A candidate with a history of shoulder dislocation, instability or reconstruction should raise it with the coach before vertical work, so arm position and the recovery sequence can be adjusted and medical clearance sought where appropriate. A shoulder that cannot reach the BOC is a deployment failure.

RPL evidence set

• Experienced entrants may evidence this unit by any sufficient combination of: (a) tunnel records at IBA Static Level 3 or equivalent (neutral sit, sit turns, back↔head-up transitions, sit-fly up/down, per third-party summaries; verify against IBA source material).
• (b) a logbook showing prior head-up jumps with coach or drop zone safety officer endorsements.
• (c) a video portfolio showing a stable neutral sit, turns in both directions, fall-rate changes and front- and back-loop recoveries, with the candidate identifiable.

In all cases the candidate flies one sky challenge jump, assessed against the full FFP-HU101 checklist, including the breakoff, deployment and altitude-awareness criteria, which video portfolios rarely evidence.

Coaching priorities

Deliver in the project’s priority order: Safety → Fun → Learning (curriculum Part A0). Hold bold safety criteria to the best-practice standard described above. Design the session to be enjoyable: participants choose this expensive hobby, and enjoyment sustains both the student and the sport. Set one declared objective per jump to keep cognitive load light, and end debriefs on a win with one improvement focus (criterion 5.3).

Physical preparation (era coaching wisdom). Head-up flying makes a sustained demand on the quads and the sit endurance to hold a neutral position through a full working block. Tunnel blocks run up to ~2 minutes, so the conditioning that helps is isometric holds matched to that length.

Period Australian coaching (Tracey Lane) recommended, position-specific for head-up: isometric wall-sits held up to ~2 minutes to match a tunnel block, pressing through the heels to load the quads and spare the knees; single-leg balance work for asymmetric docks; and hamstring bridges for back-fly (the recovery position) (ASM 79 pp.28–29). Offer it as optional preparation a flyer can do between jump days.

Sources