Head-Down 301 — Fly head-down in groups

Application

Covers flying head-down as a working member of a group: 4-way linked exit slot craft (Inside Centre, Front Float, Outside Centre, Tail, plus the Camera Step stinger), post-exit base stabilisation, approaches, docking craft (sting, present, dock, break-in) and group breakoff.

Applies to flyers holding crest-standard head-down competence (HD 202) who are combining slot skills while managing their position relative to several other flyers, the articulation stage of the skill ladder.

Environment: sky, with tunnel drills as preparation for docking mechanics (exits and breakoff are sky-only skills). Group sizes 3–6 are the guide for this unit; big-way method (divers/floaters, staged drop-offs, two-stage breakoff) is the mastery tier.

This unit keeps the small-group treatment of the 4-way exit slots; the full base doctrine at big-way depth (Outside Centre’s rotate-the-base job and all three rotation cases, the Front Float anchor logic, the Tail flop, launch and stack-up) is the authoritative home in FFP-HD304.

Community norms suggest matching group size to experience, e.g., one published ladder holds flyers to a 5-way maximum until roughly 500 freefly jumps (head-down community-sources research, Skydive Arizona/Harwood).

Supervision: with a coach in the group (scaffold stage: coach passive → peers). Slot descriptions assume a port-side (left-hand) door, reverse left/right for a starboard door; the Camera Step slot assumes an aircraft fitted with a step (most skydiving aircraft are).

Pre-requisite units

FFP-F100, FFP-HD201, FFP-HD202 (crest-standard head-down). RPL route: national head-down credential (e.g., APF the head-down crest, UK FF2) or equivalent logbook/video evidence, plus one challenge jump against HD 202 criteria.

Elements and performance criteria

1. Plan the jump

1.1

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

1.2

Allocate exit slots against each flyer's weight, build and experience (heaviest flyer on Front Float; a light, reasonably tall flyer on Tail; leader generally Inside Centre).

1.3

Confirm every participant's currency and the group size against conditions and experience.

1.4

State breakoff and deployment altitudes (guide: 5,000 ft up to a 4-way; 5,500 ft for 5-way and larger), the fan-out breakoff plan, and the lost-group/instability plan.

2. Prepare

2.1

Complete a freefly-specific gear check on self and cross-check one other flyer (handles, BOC, riser covers, closing loop, helmet, audible set and functioning).

2.2

Brief own slot's climb-out order, grips and key timing, and walk the full exit in the dirt dive (Tail climbs out before Inside Centre; Inside Centre keys).

2.3

Dirt-dive each planned point including dock and break-in sequences.

2.4

Confirm exit order and separation with the load and any other movement groups.

3. Perform

3.1

Climb out in the briefed sequence and set grips without disturbing other flyers' setups.

3.2

Protect operating handles throughout climb-out, checking clearance from door-frame snag points.

3.3

Leave on the key, flying the assigned slot's exit role (e.g., Front Float anchoring the formation down without over-rotation; Tail rotating out with the group, head stacked low, legs relaxed; Outside Centre holding level with the leader and keeping the base stable; Camera Step exiting near "go" on the base's first movement and approaching from below).

3.4

Stabilise the base after exit, holding level with the leader and arresting any base rotation with anti-rotation input toward the correct shoulder.

3.5

Hold level with the formation (head-height tolerance) for 3 seconds, then hold the slot for 3 seconds, before initiating any dock (Level → Slot → Dock).

3.6

Fly the body, not the reaching arm, to the grip, keeping arms static on approach.

3.7

Sting with a thumb-down overgrip on the same arm of a linked flyer, using light grip pressure.

3.8

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

3.9

Dock with a thumbs-up undergrip onto a presented fist without destabilising the formation.

3.10

Complete a break-in: sting one arm, dock the other, adjust the sting to an undergrip, pull the dock apart and join the round, finishing with the stabilising twist.

3.11

Back out to level at the first sign of instability in the slot or on the grip, re-approaching only when stable.

3.12

Respond to any loss of control by controlling fall rate without corking up into the group (ball up, recover clear of traffic), rejoining only when stable and on level.

4. Complete

4.1

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

4.2

Turn 180° from group centre and track on the briefed fan line, tracking on the back first before transitioning to a belly track, checking airspace.

4.3

Deploy at the planned altitude after clearing airspace.

4.4

Fly the agreed canopy separation plan.

5. Review

5.1

Debrief against the declared objective using video.

5.2

Diagnose own slot's faults against the per-slot failure-mode table (Appendix A) and state the correction for the next jump.

5.3

Write the jump up in the logbook with a reflection naming the unit and skills assessed (e.g., "HD301, Tail slot, break-in") alongside the criteria results, unit-tagged entries turn the logbook into a training record, not just a jump count.

Bold criteria are safety-critical. Within FFP courses they are strongly recommended best-practice standards treated as must-meet, any Not Yet Satisfactory on a bold criterion means the unit is Not Yet Competent. This is education, not regulation: the knowledge evidence carries the why behind each, because a flyer who understands the risk holds the standard without being policed.

Foundation skills

• Group briefing/debriefing communication.
• Altitude and separation numeracy.
• Planning and organising (slot allocation, climb-out sequencing).
• Teamwork and mutual monitoring in freefall.
• Self-management under stress (back-out and no-cork discipline).

Performance evidence (suggested sufficiency — adjust locally)

Ability evidenced across at least 10 coached group head-down jumps (3-way to 6-way guide), including at least 4 four-way linked exits flown across at least two different exit slots, at least one jump flown as the Camera Step (or equivalent first-stinger) slot where the aircraft allows, and at least one successful break-in to a round.

Tunnel time may substitute for docking-craft development reps (sting/present/dock/break-in mechanics), not for exits, breakoff or the assessment jumps. Evidence across at least two different days/conditions, including two consecutive jumps meeting all criteria without coach assistance or prompts, within a recommended 6-month currency window.

Once the standard break-in is comfortable, students are encouraged to attempt the ninja break-in on a coached jump with the coach filming, then debrief what the feet, hands and stability did, an exploration rep, not an assessment requirement.

Treat the jump counts as a guide to how long the unit might take, not a quota: assessment is against the criteria (competency over numbers), and flyers will get there in fewer or more jumps depending on background.

Knowledge evidence

• Describe the freefly-specific gear check for group jumps (handles, BOC, riser covers, closing loop, helmet, audible) and why each item matters at head-down speeds.
• Describe how to take a knock in the formation without corking, tuck the chin, close the legs and go faster, a cue documented as standard vertical big-way discipline in this era (ASM 68 p.64, “Vertical Big-Way Fundamentals”), and consistent with this unit’s ball-up-don’t-cork rule.
  • Period big-way coaching is explicit that the reflex to spread the legs after a bump is exactly wrong: spreading slows the flyer and pops them up into traffic, whereas closing up and driving down keeps them on level.
• Describe the 4-way exit slots (Inside Centre, Front Float, Outside Centre, Tail, Camera Step) and each slot’s role, climb-out order and grips.
• Explain the climb-out handle-snag hazard (e.g. the top of the door frame on the Tail climb-out) and why operating handles are protected and checked for clearance throughout climb-out.
• Explain the heaviest-on-Front-Float anchor logic (the heavy flyer pulls the formation down without excessive over-rotation) and contrast it with the head-up 4-way, where the heaviest also takes the Outside Front slot but for burble creation.
• Describe the Outside Centre role on a small-group 4-way, hold level with the leader and keep the base stable and predictable, arresting any exit rotation with anti-rotation toward the correct shoulder.
  • On big-ways the base is additionally steered to face jump run so slot-specific approach lanes exist, that jump-run-orientation doctrine and the plane-between-Inside-Centre’s-legs sight picture live in FFP-HD304, not here.
• Explain the Tail “flop” failure mode (causes: too heavy for the slot, insufficient reach over the group, excess exit momentum, straight-leg stall on the wind) and its prevention.
• Explain the grip-mechanics rationale, why a sting is a thumb-down overgrip (arm stays low and straight; air pressure holds the hand on, so the grip can be light) and a dock is a thumbs-up undergrip (arms go wide; thumb-down locks the elbow, “t-rex arms”).
• Describe the ninja break-in (both arms flown in front on thumbs-up undergrips) and why it is worked up to rather than attempted early, both arms close and in front, possibly in foot burble, with much less lateral and fore/aft stability.
• Explain the Level → Slot → Dock discipline and why any instability in the slot or on a grip means backing out to level before re-approaching, the same discipline this era’s vertical big-way cues state as “approach and dock from slightly below, float up onto the grip with pressure, and don’t dock unless you improve the formation”.
  • ASM 68 p.64–65, period corroboration of the approach-from-below, don’t-destabilise doctrine.
• Explain why headings and reference points are held off the base and the horizon rather than off the reaching arm, so the slot stays where the formation needs it.
• Explain why corking in a group creates dangerous closing speeds (decelerating from ~175 mph freefly speeds toward ~120 mph belly speeds under traffic) and the ball-up rule.
• State breakoff/deployment guides for group head-down and explain why breakoff from vertical jumps is flown head-down/on-back at speed before flattening.
  • 5,000 ft up to a 4-way; 5,500 ft for 5-way and larger, noting most modern jumpers use 5,500 ft for any size freefly group and will generally not accept 4,500 ft.
  • GPS data: head-down tracking roughly 50% more horizontally effective; head-up breakoff considered unacceptable in groups of six or more.
• Analyse own video against the per-slot failure-mode table to diagnose one exit fault and one docking fault.

Assessment conditions

• Sky jumps from a recommended 12,000 ft minimum (guide, group work needs working time).
• Assessment jumps flown in a real group of at least 4 including the linked exit.
• Mandatory video (outside camera flyer recommended for exit assessment; helmet-mounted acceptable where the candidate is identifiable).
• Required equipment, visual altimeter, functioning audible, AAD recommended, freefly-suitable gear.
• Conditions within all participants’ cleared limits.
• Assessor: a freefly coach current in head-down group coaching, using the published FFP-HD301 checklist (Satisfactory / Not Yet Satisfactory per criterion).

Coaching priorities

Deliver in the project’s priority order:

• Safety → Fun → Learning (curriculum Part A0). Safety criteria are must-meet.
• The session is designed to be enjoyable, participants choose this expensive hobby, and enjoyment sustains both the student and the sport.
• Debriefs end on a win with one improvement focus for the next jump (element 5).

Delivery note, advanced skills (ninja break-in and beyond): teach the theory, encourage the student to have a go on a jump, film it (coach camera), then run a structured debrief built on noticing, what did the feet do? the hands? what happened to stability? This teach → try → film → debrief → notice pattern is the recommended FFP delivery style for advanced work throughout the curriculum.

RPL evidence set

• Logbook evidencing equivalent head-down group jumps (4-way or larger linked exits across two or more slots).
• Video portfolio demonstrating linked exits, docks and break-ins against the Perform criteria.
• Tunnel records evidencing 4-way VFS or equivalent grip-work plus sky validation of exits and breakoff.
• Or a challenge assessment of two group jumps against the full criteria with a qualifying assessor.

Sources

Appendix A — Per-slot failure-mode table (coaching aid)

A debrief instrument for element 5 (criterion 5.2): symptom → likely cause → fix, per exit slot. Slot descriptions assume a port-side door; reverse left/right for starboard. The Camera Step row assumes an aircraft fitted with a step (most skydiving aircraft are). Table reviewed for this edition.

Slot roles in brief (from the project’s coaching doctrine Part 1): Inside Centre keys the exit and generally leads. Front Float, back to prop blast, hanging from the left arm, left foot on the door centre, right foot aft, is the anchor: the heaviest flyer here pulls the formation down without excessive over-rotation.

Outside Centre sets up on Front Float’s right shoulder, holds level with the leader and keeps the base stable and predictable, arresting any exit rotation with anti-rotation toward the correct shoulder, on big-ways the base is additionally steered to face jump run (see FFP-HD304), but a standalone 4-way does not need jump-run orientation.

Tail, ideally light and reasonably tall, climbs out before Inside Centre, reaches the right arm over the left into the flower grip, stacks the head low with the other three, and rotates out with the group: strong arms (keep pushing the group down; don’t let the grip ride up to the chest), gentle legs (no straight-leg stall on the wind).

Camera Step is the preferred first stinger: right foot on the step, long right arm high on the outside handle, head already low around the base’s hips, exiting on “set”/“set-and…”/near “go” as the base first moves, then approaching from below on the inverse stadium.

Diver and Floater rows are included for continuity, they are developed fully on the big-way participant cards (FFP-HD303 diver, FFP-HD302 floater), and the full base doctrine, including the Outside Centre rotate-the-base-to-jump-run job and its sight-picture graphic, is FFP-HD304.