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HD102 Flyer
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Head Down · Stability · The jump

Head-Down 102

Control and transition head-down

Control head down: turns, drive, slides and flips.

What this unit covers

Covers deliberate control of the head-down position and transitions between head-down positions: turns on the vertical axis driven from leg pressure rather than the arms, fore/aft drive from chin and hip, lateral movement by side slide, level (fall-rate) changes, and HD↔HD transitions with heading recovery, the front flip and the back flip (APF006 §7.4, §7.7, §7.9).
The cartwheel/side transition is stretch content; see below. Applies to flyers who can find and hold vertical head-down (HD 101). Environment: the tunnel is the primary skill-building environment, isolating one control at a time; sky solo jumps validate the skills.
The rest of it
The soloist flies sky head-down in a daffy under the FFP-F100 solo protocols, because a shelf can quickly develop a large forward drive into a back angle (the project's coaching doctrine). Supervision: starts coach-held or coach-as-reference in the tunnel, moves to the coach flying passively, and ends with unaccompanied solo sky drills.
At this tier the candidate performs with guidance, moving from imitation to precision.
The single heading standard throughout is ±45°: finish pointing in the same quadrant. Scope boundary, carving is out of scope. The flyer should not attempt carving until the turn, drive, level-change and transition exercises in this unit are performed competently (APF006 §7.9: "Carving should not be attempted until competency is achieved in the above exercises.").
Carving enters the curriculum downstream (Dynamic track), after this unit's criteria are met.

What comes before it

Screen 2 · What you are watched on

What you are watched on

The same short list a coach ticks, in the same words. Nothing is hidden from you.

3.3
Perform a 360° turn in each direction using pressure on the leg opposite the turn, arms remaining in their stability role, stopping within ±45° of the start heading.

Can you turn 360 degrees in each direction from leg pressure, stopping within about a quadrant of where you started?

3.4
Initiate and stop forward drive using chin and hip input, holding heading within ±45°.

Can you start and stop forward drive using chin and hip input, holding your heading?

3.8
Perform a head-down-to-head-down front-flip transition (head tilt initiates, legs tucked for momentum, legs catch air to stop rotation), re-establishing vertical within ±45° of the entry heading.

Can you do a head-down to head-down front flip and come out vertical, near the heading you went in on?

3.10 Safety critical
Execute the vertical recovery position immediately on any loss of control, ball up, never flatten to belly, resuming work only when stable and the airspace is confirmed clear.

On any loss of control, do you ball up rather than flatten to belly, and only start work again once stable and the airspace is clear?

Screen 3 · Safety and altitudes

Safety and altitudes

Everything here is a recommendation with a reason behind it, not a rule. The drop zone you are jumping at, and your own limits on the day, decide what actually happens.

Safety-critical criteria on the short list

3.10
Execute the vertical recovery position immediately on any loss of control, ball up, never flatten to belly, resuming work only when stable and the airspace is confirmed clear.

On any loss of control, do you ball up rather than flatten to belly, and only start work again once stable and the airspace is clear?

Everything this unit says about breakoff and deployment

1.4
State breakoff and deployment altitudes (guide: 5,000 ft for groups up to a 4-way, 5,500 ft for 5-way or larger, most modern freeflyers use 5,500 ft for any freefly group and will generally not accept 4,500 ft), and the audible verification plan for the jump. Audibles fail silently (see Knowledge evidence), so the profile is confirmed against the briefed breakoff. On an audible that annunciates climbing altitude, the climb beeps double as a function check (the 2,000 ft beep) and a profile check (the breakoff-altitude beeps heard on the climb). On an audible that arms only on freefall detection and gives no climb beeps, this in-plane check does not apply; function is verified per the manufacturer's method instead.
2.4
Verify audible function and profile on the climb, climb-annunciating devices only (see the device caveat in Knowledge evidence). Listen for the 2,000 ft beep when the seatbelts come off as a function check. Read the breakoff-altitude profile beeps heard higher on the climb as a separate profile check. Use a 12,000 ft beep as the final functionality check and the reminder to begin gear checks. On a device that gives no climb beeps, silence on the climb is normal, verify function per the manufacturer's method rather than treating the silence as a failed or passed check.
4.1
Initiate breakoff at the briefed altitude (within −0/+300 ft).
4.3
Deploy at the planned altitude after decelerating to belly-to-earth speeds (≥1,000 ft slow-down guide) and clearing airspace.

Altitudes here are the guides this curriculum recommends and argues for. Where the drop zone briefs something different, the drop zone is what you fly.

Screen 4 · After the jump

After the jump

From this unit's own closing element, review.

5.1
Debrief against the declared objective using video.
5.2
Identify one control fault (e.g. arm-led turn, unintended drive during "neutral", over/under-rotated transition) and its correction for the next jump or session.
5.3
Write the jump or session up in the logbook with a reflection naming the unit and skills assessed (e.g. "FFP-HD102, 360s stopped in the quadrant; forward drive still arm-led"); the curriculum gives log entries meaning.

One fault, one correction

Before the video, before anyone else speaks: name the single thing that went wrong, and the single thing you will do differently next jump. One of each. A list of six is a list you will not fly.

Write them into your notes at the bottom of this card, and they will be here next time you open it.

Record this jump

Most records are the flyer's own, and that is the point: your own read of your own flying is worth keeping. A record only counts as verified once a coach signs it.

Your notes for this unit

Saved on this device only. Nothing is sent anywhere, there is nowhere for it to go, and no account is involved. They will be here next time you open this card.

This card is a summary. The full Head-Down 102 unit carries the reasoning, the sources and everything left off here. All briefing cards.