Head-Up 102

Move and transition head-up

Going where you want head up, and getting back to the sit from anywhere.

What the course is about

You'll learn to drive a sit forward, backward and sideways, change fall rate, fly the cartwheel, back flip and front flip, and find your own drift. This follows Head-Up 101, because you need a stable sit on heading and a recovery you trust before you start moving.

In Australia, solo freefly jumps need at least a Certificate B and the drop zone safety officer's approval.

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

Drive forward a briefed distance (~5–10 m guide) by pushing the legs toward a stand and breaking forward at the hips, a larger hip break than the tunnel permits, stopping in the neutral sit on heading (±45° guide).

Can you drive forward about five to ten metres and stop in a neutral sit, still on heading?

3.7

Perform a cartwheel transition (foot to opposite knee, tuck to a ball, force the legs down on return), re-establishing the sit on the original heading (±45° guide) within 3 seconds.

Can you cartwheel and re-establish the sit on your original heading within about three seconds?

3.12 Safety critical

Execute the vertical recovery position immediately on any loss of control, resuming work only when stable and back on the working heading.

If you become unstable in a transition or a drive, do you recover to back-fly, in the recovery position, straight away and pick work up again only once you are stable and back on your working heading?

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

3.12

Execute the vertical recovery position immediately on any loss of control, resuming work only when stable and back on the working heading.

Everything this course says about breakoff and deployment

1.3

State breakoff and deployment altitudes (guide: 5,500 ft minimum for head-up work, most modern jumpers use 5,500 ft for any freefly group and will generally not accept 4,500 ft).

2.2

Fit the pull-up-cord drift indicator (designated drift-diagnosis jumps only) by tying it to a shoelace, good practice, keeping it as far as possible from handles and deployment equipment and confirming it streams free of snag points. Any cord added to gear is a snag hazard, so check it cannot reach or foul anything.

4.1

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

4.3

Deploy at the planned altitude after clearing airspace.

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 against the declared objective using video and the drift-indicator evidence.

5.2

Compare the opening point against the exit point to audit total drift.

5.3

Identify one fault and its correction for the next jump.

5.4

Log the jump with criteria results and a short logbook reflection naming the unit and skills assessed (e.g. "HU102, forward drive and cartwheel").

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.

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