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HU102 Flyer
Coach card Full unit

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Head Up · Stability · The jump

Head-Up 102

Move and transition head-up

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

What this unit covers

- Covers deliberate head-up movement and in-place head-up↔head-up transitions flown as a solo skill set: fore/aft drive flown by pushing the legs toward a stand with a break at the hips.
Side slides.
The rest of it
Level changes.
And cartwheel, back-flip and front-flip transitions finishing back in a sit on heading. The unit also covers self-diagnosis of drift when no coach's eye is present, the defining problem of solo head-up work, because a backsliding solo flyer silently covers ground toward adjacent groups (Austin). Applies to flyers who hold a stable neutral sit with heading control and a reliable recovery (HU 101). Solo sit exits (back to the relative wind; APF006 §6.3) and the head-up breakoff sequence (through the back to belly, slowing to belly speeds) consolidate skills introduced in HU 101 and Freefly 100 and are flown and assessed on every jump in this unit. Forward drive is taught by pushing the legs toward a stand, with the risk stated plainly: done well it can generate a large, fast forward drive, so the flyer flies each drive as a short briefed distance with gradual input and a drive check between manoeuvres. In practice most beginner head-up flyers backslide rather than over-drive. Environment: tunnel recommended for skill acquisition, because the wall reference makes drift visible; sky for validation, where no fixed reference exists, hence the drift-indicator drill. The drive mechanics taught here are deliberately sky-specific: the rig changes how a sit flies (see Knowledge evidence). Supervision: coach-briefed ground preparation with the coach passive in the air, fading to unsupported solo jumps. A flyer jumping truly solo follows the FFP-F100 solo protocols: working heading 90° to jump run, movement intent declared to the load, and two functioning audibles, which should be regarded as mandatory best practice before any solo freefly. An audible is a hidden safety-critical device that can fail silently; a group provides altitude-awareness redundancy, a soloist has none.

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?

3.5
Side-slide left and right a briefed distance, pushing down on the travel-side leg, dropping the same-side elbow and extending the opposite hand away to form a downward wing on the travel side with the upper legs and arms, stopping on heading after each slide.

Can you side-slide left and right a briefed distance and stop on heading after each one?

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 a transition or a drive goes wrong, do you go straight to the vertical recovery position and pick work up again only once you are stable and back on your working 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?

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

3.12
Execute the vertical recovery position immediately on any loss of control, resuming work only when stable and back on the working heading.

If a transition or a drive goes wrong, do you go straight to the vertical recovery position and pick work up again only once you are stable and back on your working heading?

Everything this unit 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.

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 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, 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-Up 102 unit carries the reasoning, the sources and everything left off here. All briefing cards.