Head-Up 202 — Demonstrate crest-standard head-up flying

Application

The head-up assessment unit. Covers demonstrating, on two prescribed 2-way assessment jumps, the complete head-up relative skill set, exit, face-off, in-place rotations, recovery, forward drive, level matching, approach, hand-to-hand docks, signalled transitions, and breakoff/track/deployment discipline, to the standard the head-up crest sign-off consumes.

• The two assessment dive flows are the APF Freefly Training Table Stages 1–2 (the APF Training Operations Manual), enriched to the union with the Freefly and Angles Guide Head Up 1 & 2 flows (APF006 §8.5): the APF Training Operations Manual, the authorised manual, defines the minimum acceptable standard and always prevails, while the additional Freefly and Angles Guide manoeuvres are training and evidence enrichment layered on top.
• So a single evidence pack satisfies both documents.

The unit’s output is a defined evidence pack: exactly what a Freefly Coach and a drop zone safety officer/chief instructor need to complete the crest sign-off chain without further evidence-gathering.

Applies to flyers who have completed FFP-HU201 (coached head-up 2-ways).

Environment: sky, assessment jumps are sky jumps from a recommended 10,000 ft minimum (APF006 §3.2); tunnel time may support rehearsal but never substitutes for the assessment jumps.

Supervision/scaffold stage: coach passive → unassisted, the coach flies the coach slot in each dive flow (base, signals, level changes) but gives no in-air correction on assessment jumps; every criterion specifies unsupported performance.

Pre-requisite units

FFP-F100 (Establish freefly foundations), FFP-HU101 (Fly a stable sit), FFP-HU102 (Move and transition head-up), FFP-HU201 (Fly head-up in a 2-way). Recommended entry check: HU201 judged Competent within the preceding 6 months (guide). RPL route for experienced entrants: see RPL evidence set below, RPL shortens the preparation, never the assessment; the two assessment flows are always flown.

Elements and performance criteria

Elements follow the jump lifecycle. Each criterion is one observable behaviour, judged Satisfactory / Not Yet Satisfactory against the published checklist.

Bold criteria are safety-critical. Within FFP courses they are strongly recommended best-practice standards, treated as non-compensable, any Not Yet Satisfactory on a bold criterion means the unit is Not Yet Competent regardless of flying quality, because the crest evidence this unit produces is above all a safety judgement, and a beautiful flow that misses its breakoff is exactly what the sign-off chain exists to catch.

Tolerances carry over from FFP-HU201 (same tier; heading and stop tolerance ±45°, finish pointing in the same quadrant); what changes at 202 is that the whole flow must run on two consecutive jumps meeting all criteria without coach assistance or prompts.

1. Plan the assessment jump

1.1

State the jump's dive flow, coach signals and per-criterion success standards before boarding.

1.2

Confirm own currency, the coach's brief and the conditions against personal limits, declining the jump if outside them.

1.3

State breakoff (5,500 ft guide, the recommended minimum for any head-up group) and deployment altitudes, and the lost-partner plan.

2. Prepare

2.1

Complete a freefly-specific gear check on self and cross-check with the coach (handles clear, BOC pouch condition, bridle covered, riser covers and pin flaps secure, closing loop tight, chest strap tightened for freefly, leg-strap bungee, hard helmet, visual altimeter, audible altimeter set and functioning).

2.2

Dirt-dive the full dive flow including every coach signal (360, front loop, backloop) until each response is automatic.

2.3

Confirm exit order and separation with the load (freeflyers after flat flyers when jump run is into wind; separation by ground covered, never a fixed count).

3. Perform the assessment dive flows

Jump 1 (Freefly and Angles Guide Head Up 1 / Training Table Stage 1):

3.1

Launch the linked exit and establish a stable sit within 5 seconds of separation from the hill.

3.2

Break from grips and face off with the coach, holding heading ±45° in the neutral sit.

3.3

Perform an in-place 360° turn, stopping on the original heading ±45° (finishing pointed in the same quadrant).

3.4

Perform a front flip, re-establishing the controlled sit on heading within 3 seconds.

3.5

Drive forward to re-establish the face-off after the coach backs off, stopping level (head-height tolerance) without overshoot or contact.

3.6

Follow the coach through level changes up and down, re-establishing level within 3 seconds each way.

Jump 2 (Freefly and Angles Guide Head Up 2 / Training Table Stage 2):

3.7

Exit unlinked into head-up and fly to a face-off within 5 metres of the coach's base.

3.8

Approach and take a hand-to-hand dock without destabilising the coach.

3.9

Perform a front loop and a backloop on the coach's signals, returning to the sit on heading within 3 seconds each.

3.10

Perform a 360° on signal and re-take the hand-to-hand dock.

Both jumps:

3.11

Fly the entire flow free of erratic or unpredictable movement (no orbiting, no backsliding through the coach's airspace).

3.12

Execute the vertical recovery position immediately on any loss of control, re-approaching only when stable.

4. Complete

4.1

Initiate breakoff unprompted at the briefed altitude (within −0/+300 ft).

4.2

Transition smoothly from head-up to a progressive track 90° from jump run while checking airspace for a clear flight path.

4.3

Deploy at the planned altitude after visually clearing airspace, with separation completed at least 1,000 ft above planned deployment.

4.4

Fly the agreed canopy separation plan after opening (turn 90° off jump run).

5. Review and compile evidence

5.1

Debrief each assessment jump against the published checklist using the video.

5.2

Self-assess each criterion Satisfactory / Not Yet Satisfactory from own video before receiving the assessor's marks, justifying any difference.

5.3

Compile the evidence pack (videos, signed checklists, logbook entries, knowledge-evidence record) and present it for the sign-off chain.

5.4

Write both jumps up in the logbook naming the unit and skills assessed (e.g. "FFP-HU202 assessment jump 1, Stage 1 flow") with reflections, criteria results and the coach's countersignature, entries that name the unit make the logbook legible to the drop zone safety officer and chief instructor who sign from it.

Criteria 4.1–4.3 are themselves assessed dive-flow items: both Freefly and Angles Guide flows end “student initiates break-off at agreed height and demonstrates a safe, smooth transition to a track while checking airspace” (APF006 §8.5; the APF Training Operations Manual).

Foundation skills

• Briefing/debriefing communication (receiving and confirming a prescribed flow, responding to in-air signals).
• Altitude, separation and fall-rate numeracy.
• Planning and sequencing under time pressure.
• Self-management under assessment pressure (flying a known-observed jump without degradation).
• Record-keeping (logbook, checklist and video evidence discipline).

Performance evidence (suggested sufficiency — adjust locally)

Ability evidenced by, as a guide:

• Both assessment dive flows completed as sky jumps, two consecutive jumps meeting all criteria without coach assistance or prompts; a Not Yet Satisfactory flow is re-flown after corrective coaching.
• A suggested 2–6 rehearsal jumps of the flows beforehand (tunnel time may substitute for rehearsal only, never for the assessment jumps).
• Rehearsal-plus-assessment evidence spanning at least two different days/conditions.
• Both assessment jumps within a suggested 3 months of each other; all evidence within a recommended 6-month currency window.

These numbers are a guide to how long it might take, not a quota, the standard is competency, whenever it arrives.

The evidence pack (the unit’s defined output, designed so a Freefly Coach and drop zone safety officer/chief instructor can complete the crest sign-off from it directly, with nothing further to gather):

1. Video of both assessment jumps, candidate identifiable, the full flow and breakoff visible.
2. The completed FFP-HU202 checklist for each jump, every criterion marked Satisfactory / Not Yet Satisfactory, signed by the assessing coach.
3. Logbook entries for both jumps (date, DZ, aircraft/altitude, coach name and signature).
4. Knowledge-evidence record (oral or written responses per the section below, noted by the assessor).
5. Currency summary: recent head-up jumps and dates evidencing the currency window.

Knowledge evidence

The candidate can, at minimum (Bloom verbs at Relative tier — state/explain/apply/analyse; these mirror the Freefly and Angles Guide evaluation criteria: knowledge of the Freefly Safety Rules, understanding the dangers of corking, resuming the recovery position with ease — APF006 §8):

• State the FFP breakoff guides: freefly groups up to 4-way 5,000 ft, 5-way and larger 5,500 ft.
  • Head-up groups a minimum of 5,500 ft, 6-way and larger 6,000 ft (10-way+ is advanced flying, a leader-level risk decision; consider higher).
  • Most modern jumpers use 5,500 ft for any freefly group and will generally not accept 4,500 ft.
• Explain why head-up groups break off higher than the generic freefly guides: GPS data show head-up tracking generates less power and less track efficiency, glide ratio barely improves at breakoff, and rotating to head-down to track costs altitude, so head-up separation must be bought with height (Jake Carlton’s breakoff data).
• State the remaining small-group guides: separation completed at least 1,000 ft above planned deployment, working 90° to jump run, the lost-partner plan for a 2-way, and the group-size guides before and after a head-up credential.
• Explain corking, the speed differential between head-up (~220–260 km/h) and belly fall rates, and the mechanics of the vertical recovery position (back-to-earth modified sit: feet together, knees to chest, arms out and slightly back) and why it preserves head-up orientation and awareness.
• Explain freefly exit-order and separation logic: faster-falling groups after slower when jump run is into wind; separation by ground covered, not a fixed count; drift management for vertical flyers.
• Explain the freefly gear standard and why each item matters at head-up speeds (BOC/pull-out only, covered bridle, riser covers, closing loop, chest-strap tension, leg-strap bungee, audible).
• Describe the sign-off chain this unit’s evidence feeds in the local jurisdiction, and who signs what.
• Analyse own assessment video: mark each performance criterion Satisfactory / Not Yet Satisfactory with justification, and diagnose the mechanical cause of any fault (e.g. backsliding from rolled shoulders or looking down).

Assessment conditions

• Environment: sky jumps from a recommended 10,000 ft minimum; the two flows flown as separate jumps; conditions within the candidate’s cleared limits and suitable for a valid assessment (assessor judgement).
• Video: required on both assessment jumps (coach-flown or helmet-mounted), candidate identifiable, the video is simultaneously the assessment evidence and the witness/verification record.
  • Without it there is nothing for the sign-off chain to verify.
• Equipment: visual altimeter.
  • Functioning audible altimeter (a second recommended).
  • Freefly-suitable gear per the FFP-F100 gear standard.
  • Hard helmet.
  • AAD recommended.
  • Australia: a functioning audible altimeter is mandatory on every freefly descent, the APF Operational Regulations.
• Assessor: a freefly coach current in head-up coaching, using the published FFP-HU202 checklist, criteria published to the candidate in advance.
  • Each criterion marked Satisfactory / Not Yet Satisfactory.
  • Unit judgement Competent / Not Yet Competent.
  • The coach flies the coach slot and gives no in-air assistance.
  • Australia: an APF Freefly Coach, the same person whose witnessing and verification the APF crest schedule requires, with the drop zone safety officer co-signing each stage and the chief instructor completing the endorsement.
  • Elsewhere: the national or drop-zone equivalent, e.g. a UK chief instructor/Advanced-Instructor-nominated FF1/FF2 evaluator of proven instructional ability per BS Ops Manual 6.6.2.
• Non-compensable standard (FFP best practice, not a regulation): any Not Yet Satisfactory on a bold safety-critical criterion (1.3, the audible item in 2.1, 3.12, 4.1, 4.3) = Not Yet Competent, the pack this unit produces certifies safety behaviour before flying skill.
  • The affected flow is re-flown in full after corrective coaching.
  • Other Not Yet Satisfactory items may be re-assessed by re-flying only the affected flow.
• Multiple occasions: evidence across the two prescribed jumps plus rehearsal history satisfies the sufficiency rule; a single jump never evidences the unit.

Coaching priorities

Deliver in the project’s priority order: Safety → Fun → Learning (curriculum Part A0). Safety criteria are non-compensable and never traded for a pass. Assessment pressure is actively managed so the jumps stay enjoyable, a relaxed candidate flies the standard they trained; a Not Yet Satisfactory flow is a re-fly, not a failure. Every debrief, including after a Not Yet Satisfactory result, ends on a win with one improvement focus.

RPL evidence set

For experienced entrants (e.g. flyers credentialed overseas, or tunnel-heavy flyers converting to sky):

• Alternative preparation evidence (replaces FFP-HU201 and the rehearsal-jump guide): logbook evidence of head-up 2-way (or larger) sky jumps, a guide of 20+, plus a video portfolio demonstrating the HU201 skill set (levels, approach, dock, 360, recovery).
  • or an existing national head-up credential (e.g. UK FF1, or a foreign equivalent acceptable to the local federation).
  • or tunnel records at IBA Static Level 3, the RPL tunnel benchmark for this unit (the IBA progression is what Australian tunnels use), plus recent solo head-up sky jumps evidencing tunnel-to-sky transfer.
• The assessment itself is never RPL’d: the candidate flies both FFP-HU202 flows as challenge jumps with a freefly coach, producing the full evidence pack.

Sources