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HD304 Flyer
Coach card Full course

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Head Down · Group · The jump

Head-Down 304

Fly base on a head-down big-way

Flying base: being the reference everyone else is flying to.

What the course is about

You'll learn to fly a base slot on a head-down big-way: launch the base, steer it onto heading, and hold heading and fall rate while the floats and divers dock on you. Head-Down 301 comes first, because it teaches the exit slots and docking in small groups.
In Australia, head-down jumps of more than 3 people need a Freefly Crest (Head-Down), and jumps of more than 10 also need a Star Crest.

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
Hold heading and levels with the leader, arresting base rotation with anti-rotation toward the correct shoulder.

Can you hold heading and level with the leader, and stop base rotation with anti-rotation input toward the correct shoulder?

3.4
Hold fall rate steady as the reference for every approaching flyer, absorbing docks without being driven down.

Can you hold your fall rate steady as the reference everyone is flying to, absorbing docks without being driven down?

3.5 Safety critical
Take a knock without corking, tuck the chin, close the legs and go faster; do not spread the legs.

Can you take a knock without corking: chin tucked, legs closed, going faster rather than spreading?

Screen 3 · Safety and altitudes

Safety and altitudes

Everything here is a recommendation with a reason behind it. The drop zone you are jumping at, and your own limits on the day, decide what happens.

Safety-critical items on the short list

3.5
Take a knock without corking, tuck the chin, close the legs and go faster; do not spread the legs.

Can you take a knock without corking: chin tucked, legs closed, going faster rather than spreading?

Everything this course says about breakoff and deployment

1.3
State the briefed breakoff, own wave, altitude, radial and deployment altitude, confirming own wave banks at least 1,000 ft between breakoff and deployment.
2.1
Complete a freefly-specific gear check (handles, hand-deploy pouch, riser covers, closing loop, helmet, audible set to the base wave and functioning).
2.3
Dirt-dive the launch, heading hold, dock absorption and breakoff sequence at least twice.
4.1
Initiate breakoff at the briefed base-wave altitude (within −0/+300 ft), regardless of formation completeness.
4.2
Break grips, turn 180° from the formation, clear airspace, peel onto the back clearing above, rotate to belly and keep clearing, decelerate, then deploy, turning 180° before tracking, or risk being cut across by another jumper's line.
4.4
Deploy at the base wave's briefed altitude after checking airspace, ready on the rear risers in a crowded column; barrel roll only if smooth.
5.1
Debrief the base's heading, fall rate and breakoff against video.
5.2
Contribute observations of exit, traffic and breakoff to the organiser's debrief.
5.3
Write the jump up naming the unit and slot (e.g. "HD304, Outside Centre, wave-2 breakoff"), the results and the next objective.

The altitudes here are the guides this site recommends, with the reasons on the full course page. Where the drop zone briefs something different, fly what the drop zone briefs.

Screen 4 · After the jump

After the jump

From the course's closing section, review.

5.1
Debrief the base's heading, fall rate and breakoff against video.
5.2
Contribute observations of exit, traffic and breakoff to the organiser's debrief.
5.3
Write the jump up naming the unit and slot (e.g. "HD304, Outside Centre, wave-2 breakoff"), the results and the next objective.

One fault, one correction

Before the video, and before anyone else speaks, name the one fault from the jump and the one thing you will change on the next jump. Keep it to one of each, so you have one clear thing to 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

You can record the jump yourself, because your own read of your flying is worth keeping. A record counts as verified once a coach signs it.

Your notes for this course

Saved on this device only, with no account. They will be here next time you open this card.

This card is a summary. The full Head-Down 304 course page carries the reasoning, the sources and everything left off here. All briefing cards.