Head-Down 403 — Engineer big-way formations

Application

Covers designing the formation a head-down big-way builds: choosing the base shape and size, setting the build order (who stings, who docks onto the presented arms, in what sequence), laying out the wacker lines and the head-level stepping, choosing round versus line shapes, and judging when a build is complete.

• This is the shape work behind the organiser’s job, FFP-HD401 sizes the group, slots people and designs the breakoff.
• This unit designs what they build. The base flyers (FFP-HD304) hold the shape.
• The floats and divers (FFP-HD302, FFP-HD303) build it. Assumes competence organising single-aircraft big-ways. Sky only for the jumps.
• The design is done on the ground.

Pre-requisite units

FFP-HD401 (organise head-down big-ways). RPL route: a record of designing head-down big-way formations that built, plus one designed jump assessed against this card’s criteria.

Sting versus dock

The build has two different grips, and the design names them correctly. The base is formed with everyone in it docked onto each other. The people who come in after the base are stingers. To sting is to take a grip on the arm of someone who is already in the formation, without breaking their grip. The sting presents an arm, and someone else then docks onto that presented arm.

So the formation grows sting by sting, each sting opening a presented arm for the next dock.

The stepped build

A head-down formation that grows as a flat plane meets every closing stinger at full closing speed on the same level, a hard, destabilising hit. The design answer is to step it. Later stingers set up progressively higher, so the formation grows as a stepped spiral rather than a flat plane, and the shape absorbs each closing stinger instead of being knocked by it.

That stepping is engineered into the build order and the head levels before the jump, matched to the group’s skill, a less experienced group gets gentler steps and a simpler shape.

Base shape, build order and shapes

• Base shape and size. The base is the anchor the whole build grows from, everyone in it docked onto each other.
  • Its shape (a round, a line, a small pod) and size are chosen so the base flyers can launch and hold it, and so the approach lanes for the first stingers are clean.
• Build order. The first stingers onto the base and the sting-and-dock sequence after them are designed so each incoming flyer has clean air and a stable formation to take a grip on.
  • Build order is a safety choice, not just an aesthetic one, build the shape from the inside out so no one stings an unstable edge.
• Wacker lines. Lines radiating off the base give outer flyers a stable structure to build along and keep approach lanes from crossing.
• Round versus line shapes. Rounds close and lock; lines and radial shapes grow outward. The choice sets how the formation is approached, where the burbles sit and how it breaks off.
• Completion judgement. Know what “built” looks like and when to stop growing, a formation held complete for the count beats a bigger one that never locks.
  • Design the target so it is reachable in the working time the group has.

Elements and performance criteria

1. Design the shape

1.1

Choose the base shape and size against the base flyers' ability and the total group size.

1.2

Lay out the formation (round or line, wacker lines, approach lanes) so approach lanes do not cross.

1.3

Engineer the head-level stepping into the build so the formation absorbs closing stingers as a stepped spiral, matched to the group's skill level.

1.4

Set the target the group can reach and hold in the available working time.

2. Set the build order

2.1

Assign the build sequence, who stings, and who docks onto each presented arm, so every incoming flyer has clean air and a stable formation to take a grip on.

2.2

Match slots to flyers by weight and build (heavy on the fast base's floats and the exit anchor; light divers).

2.3

Sequence the build inside-out so no flyer stings an unstable edge.

3. Brief and test the design

3.1

Brief the shape, the build order and the head-level stepping so each flyer can state their slot, their level, and whether they sting or dock onto a presented arm.

3.2

Run the mock-up and dirt-dive the build in the designed order.

3.3

Confirm the design composes with the breakoff plan (waves match the build's outer-to-inner order).

4. Judge the build

4.1

Judge from video whether the formation built to the design, and where the shape failed.

4.2

Attribute a failed build to a design cause (base too big, steps too steep, lane crossing, wrong build order) and revise the design.

4.3

Record the design and the result for the next iteration.

Bold criteria are safety-critical, strongly recommended must-meet standards within FFP courses, not regulations. A build order or head-level design that meets closing stingers on a flat plane or crosses approach lanes risks the load, so a Not Yet Satisfactory on a bold criterion makes the unit Not Yet Competent.

Foundation skills

Designing a buildable, stable head-down shape from the flyers available. Sequencing a build inside-out so every stinger meets a stable formation. Reading a build from video and attributing failure to a design cause.

Performance evidence (suggested sufficiency — adjust locally)

A guide, not a gate. A record of designing head-down big-way formations that built and held, across a range of sizes and shapes, learned under an experienced organiser and then solo. Formation engineering is judged by whether the shapes build, not by a jump count.

Knowledge evidence

• Explain sting versus dock: the base formed with everyone docked onto each other.
  • Later arrivals as stingers, a sting taking a grip on an in-formation flyer’s arm without breaking that flyer’s grip.
  • The sting presenting an arm for the next flyer to dock onto.
• Explain the stepped build: why later stingers set up higher so the formation grows as a stepped spiral rather than a flat plane, and how the steps are matched to skill level.
• Explain base-shape and base-size choice against the base flyers’ ability and the group size.
• Explain build order: why the shape is built inside-out and every incoming flyer needs clean air and a stable formation to take a grip on.
• Explain wacker lines and the round-versus-line choice, and how each sets approach lanes and burbles.
• Explain how a formation design must compose with the breakoff plan (outer flyers designed to break first).
• Describe how to judge a build from video and attribute a failed shape to a design cause.

Assessment conditions

Assessed on real designed head-down big-way jumps; the design is assessed on the ground and against the build on video. Video is the primary tool for judging whether the shape built. Assessor: an experienced head-down big-way organiser or freefly coach current in the discipline, using the published FFP-HD403 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). A design that meets closing stingers on a stepped spiral and keeps approach lanes clear is the safety product of this unit, those are non-compensable. Debriefs run without blame and end on a win with one design change for the next jump.

RPL evidence set

For experienced organisers the designs are the evidence. A record of head-down big-way formations designed, with the shapes and build orders used and video of the builds; a word from a recognised organiser. One designed jump assessed against this checklist with the stepped-build knowledge covered completes the picture.

Sources