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HD202 Coach
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Head Down · Relative · The brief

Head-Down 202

Demonstrate crest-standard head-down flying

The head-down flying a crest sign-off consumes as evidence.

What this unit covers

Covers consolidating 2-way head-down skills into consistent, crest-standard performance: flying the two Freefly and Angles Guide Head-Down dive flows (Head-Down 1 and Head-Down 2, APF006 §8.6; the APF Training Operations Manual Stages 3–4) as video-recorded assessment jumps, and compiling the evidence pack that an approving authority can sign from.
This course ends with the crest: a candidate who completes FFP-HD202 holds the full evidence pack for a head-down crest application (in Australia, the chief instructor-verified Form C3 application for the Freefly Crest Head-Down, the APF Training Operations Manual).
The rest of it
Applies to flyers competent in HD 201 (2-way head-down). Environment: sky. Assessment jumps must be sky jumps; tunnel drills serve preparation only. Supervision: the coach flies the dive flow as reference and assessor. The candidate's performance must be unsupported: no in-air corrections on assessment jumps.
Group size remains 2 (3 with specific approval) throughout this unit.

What comes before it

Screen 2 · What to watch

What to watch

The same short list the flyer sees on their card, in the same words.

3.6
Fly from an unlinked exit to a face-off within 5 m of the coach-held base.

Can you fly from an unlinked exit to a face-off within five metres of a stationary flyer?

3.9
Perform a half transition to head-up on the coach's signal, maintaining fall rate and level while head-up.

Can you half transition to head up on signal and back to head down again, holding fall rate and level through both?

3.12 Safety critical
Maintain a freefly-speed fall rate throughout, staying clear of the airspace directly above the coach.

Do you hold freefly speed throughout and stay out of the airspace directly above the other flyer?

Screen 3 · What blocks a sign-off

What blocks a sign-off

A safety-critical criterion marked not yet stops the sign-off, however good the rest of the flying was. There is no averaging across this line, and no trading a good jump against it.

Safety-critical criteria on the short list

3.12
Maintain a freefly-speed fall rate throughout, staying clear of the airspace directly above the coach.

Do you hold freefly speed throughout and stay out of the airspace directly above the other flyer?

Everything this unit says about breakoff and deployment

1.3
State breakoff and deployment altitudes, and the lost-partner plan (breakoff guide: 5,000 ft for freefly groups up to a 4-way, 5,500 ft for a 5-way or larger; most modern jumpers plan 5,500 ft for any freefly group and will generally not accept 4,500).
4.1
Initiate breakoff at the briefed altitude (within −0/+300 ft).
4.2
Transition smoothly through a 180° turn into a back track 90° from jump run, the FFP-HD201 breakoff sequence (a progressive back track before rolling to belly, per the APF Training Operations Manual flow), decelerating gradually while checking airspace.
4.3
Deploy at the planned altitude after clearing airspace (breakoff-to-deployment ≥1,000 ft guide; a regulation in Australia, the APF Operational Regulations).

Recording a sign-off says what you saw on one jump. It is not a rating, it is not a permission to jump, and it does not replace anything the drop zone requires.

Screen 4 · Conditions

Conditions

Where the evidence is allowed to come from, and how much of it there needs to be.

Assessment conditions

Sky jumps from a recommended 10,000 ft minimum. The candidate flies both assessment jumps as complete, uninterrupted dive flows. Video is required for a valid assessment (coach-flown or helmet-mounted, candidate identifiable).
Required equipment: visual altimeter, functioning audible (second audible recommended; mandatory by regulation on any freefly descent in Australia, the APF Operational Regulations), AAD highly recommended, freefly-suitable gear per the FFP checklist. Conditions within the candidate's cleared limits.
Assessor: a freefly coach current in head-down coaching, using the published FFP-HD202 checklist (Satisfactory / Not Yet Satisfactory per criterion; unit result Competent / Not Yet Competent).

Performance evidence

Competency over numbers (Mason Corby, author of the APF Freefly and Angles Guide).
The standard is the two assessment jumps, one complete Freefly and Angles Guide Head-Down 1 flow and one complete Freefly and Angles Guide Head-Down 2 flow, each flown with every criterion Satisfactory on a single jump without coach assistance or prompts, not a jump count.
As a guide to how long it might take: a candidate arriving current from FFP-HD201 typically needs around 4 coached 2-way head-down jumps in this unit. Tunnel time can substitute for preparation jumps, never the assessment jumps.
The candidate should fly the assessment jumps across two different days/conditions, within a 6-month currency window, because that evidences consistency rather than a lucky day. Both assessment jumps are video-recorded end to end.
Suggested follow-through (not a requirement of this unit): fly a consolidation block of small-group head-down jumps (3–5-ways) before joining groups larger than a 5-way, "It is highly recommended that newly passed freefly candidates fly a number of jumps in smaller groups before attempting groups larger than five" (APF006 §8.6).

Screen 5 · Debrief

Debrief

Safety first, then fun, then learning. In that order, every time.

Coaching priorities

Deliver in the project's priority order: Safety → Fun → Learning (Part A0). Treat safety criteria as must-meet and never trade them for a promising flow. Assessment jumps carry pressure, so the coach actively protects enjoyment: a Not Yet Satisfactory criterion is a normal re-fly, not a failure event.
End debriefs on a win with one improvement focus.

One fault, one correction

Ask for their read before you give yours. Then leave them with one fault and one correction, in their words if you can get them. Six points is six points forgotten by the next load.

A jump marked not yet is a jump to re-fly, not a failure, and saying so out loud is part of the debrief.

Record this jump

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 202 unit carries the reasoning, the sources and everything left off here. All briefing cards.