Angles 402 — Fly head-up angles

The checklist

1. Plan the jump

1.1

State the line, where the jump is head-up and where it is head-first, each transition point and who keys it, and own slot through each phase.

1.2

Plan every transition around the line of flight, never through vertical. A jump that passes through vertical is planned under Dynamic doctrine (FFP-DY201 onward) with its own entry standards, not as an angle jump (the project's coaching doctrine).

1.3

Compose the group around its least experienced flyer, smaller than an equivalent head-first angle group; head-up angle groups run at 4 or fewer with more experienced participants (the project's coaching doctrine).

1.4

Set the breakoff to the raised head-up floors, minimum 6,000 ft, 6,500 ft for a larger group, with the head-first conversion initiated by ~6,500–7,000 ft (Carlton). These sit above the ordinary angle guides of 5,000 ft up to a 4-way and 5,500 ft for five or more, because a head-up breakoff does not produce the separation a head-first one does. Keep at least 1,000 ft between breakoff and planned deployment (mandatory in Australia, the APF Operational Regulations) (the project's coaching doctrine breakoff standards; FFP-AN301 knowledge evidence).

1.5

Declare the jump and its lane to the load per the FFP-AN301 planning standard, a head-up angle is a movement group like any other and owns a lane, a distance and an opening area.

2. Prepare

2.1

Brief each transition with a positive key that reads from every orientation on the line, a head-up flyer and a belly-flyer see different pictures, so the key must work for both.

2.2

Screen every participant by demonstration, not self-report: head-up control, fall-rate range, and footage, an unproven flyer is treated as lower-skilled until seen (the project's coaching doctrine screening doctrine).

2.3

Complete a freefly-standard gear check for every flyer, the jump carries freefly speeds throughout (the APF Operational Regulations audible in Australia; APF006 §3.1).

2.4

Brief the what-ifs: the left-behind protocol, the high-and-behind case, and the abort to a briefed straight-down plan B (FFP-AN301 standard).

3. Perform

3.1

Hold slot through orientation changes: change orientation without changing level or closing speed, bridging the fall-rate difference with speed range rather than letting the transition scatter the group (the project's coaching doctrine, the participant speed-range skill).

3.2

Fly each transition on the leader's key, staying on the line of flight, transition head-up to head-first using a team layout around a centre point, never the in-place layout Carlton names as the worst option (Carlton; the project's coaching doctrine).

3.3

Never transition through vertical. If a transition goes long or unstable, recover to the nearest stable orientation on the line and rebuild the slot, never over-rotate through vertical to save it (the project's coaching doctrine).

3.4

Hold the briefed heading discipline (within about ±45° of the planned leg) and the lane, to the same navigation standard as any other movement group (FFP-AN302).

3.5

Stay predictable when someone struggles, and never chase a flyer who leaves the plan, in-slot recovery, never track away from an angle group (APF006 §4.3).

3.6

Control pitch and level changes while moving head-up, holding the briefed slot through them (the participant speed-range skill of 3.1, applied through the line's pitch changes).

4. Complete, breakoff to landing

4.1

Be head-first and moving by the briefed window (~6,000–7,000 ft depending on the group and its size) so the track has spent its acceleration lag before the breakoff floor arrives (Carlton, the 1,500–2,000 ft lag; the project's coaching doctrine; the FFP head-up-angle breakoff guides, 6,000 ft minimum and 6,500 ft for larger groups).

4.2

Initiate breakoff at the briefed altitude in the briefed fan, each flyer tracking in a head-first orientation, peeling no more than ~90°, never turning back toward jump run (APF006 §5.10; the project's coaching doctrine breakoff standards).

4.3

Deploy at the planned altitude after visually clearing the airspace in all directions, always assuming somebody is there (APF006 §3.3).

4.4

Fly the briefed canopy plan, and confirm the whole group is down before standing down.

5. Review

5.1

Debrief against video to the protocol: participants first, the whole video once through, safety points first, end on a win.

5.2

Locate every fall-rate excursion at a transition and attribute it, key timing, speed range, or transition mechanics, and name one correction to train next.

5.3

Log the jump naming the unit, the head-up phases and transitions flown, and the next focus.

Criteria in bold are safety-critical: they protect the flyer and everyone else in the group. A coach should not record the milestone while a bold criterion is Not Yet Satisfactory, however good the rest of the flying. Outside a course they are strongly recommended practice. Regulation stays with your federation and your drop zone.

Assessment conditions

• Sky jumps in led groups, with the assessing coach on the jump.
• Jumps from 12,000 ft or higher (recommended), for working time above the raised breakoff altitudes.
• Video is the main debrief and assessment tool: footage from within the group or from the leader’s slot, with the flyer talking it through.
• Equipment: a visual altimeter, a working audible set to the briefed profile, an AAD (recommended), and freefly-suitable gear.
• Conditions within every participant’s cleared limits.
• The assessor is a freefly coach current in movement jumps and head-up flying, using this checklist.
• Each criterion is marked Satisfactory or Not Yet Satisfactory, and the result is recorded as a Mastery milestone.
• As a guide, about 10 head-up angle jumps in led groups: slots held head-up on the line, conversions held in slot and started in the briefed window, and consecutive jumps broken off to plan at the raised altitudes. Spread them over two days and different winds, within 12 months. Tunnel time covers head-up control and transition mechanics only.
• In the talk-through, the flyer can explain the raised altitudes and the GPS figures behind them, why transitions stay off vertical, how speed range keeps level through a transition, the team layout and why transitioning in place is weakest, why the leader stays on belly, and why screening is by watching people fly.
• For an experienced flyer: logbook and video of head-up angle jumps showing held slots, conversions in the window and breakoffs at the raised altitudes, a word from a recognised coach or leader, and one assessed jump against this checklist.
• As a guide, it takes about 10 head-up angle jumps in led groups, over at least two days and different winds, within 12 months.
• Tunnel time builds head-up control and transitions, and the rest happens only in the sky.
• If you already fly head-up angles, your coach can assess you on one jump, with your logbook, video and a word from a recognised coach or leader.

Coaching priorities

• Safety first, then fun, then learning.
• Head-up angles are among the most enjoyable jumps in the sport. Hold the raised altitudes and the conversion window to the bold standard, so the jumps happen inside a plan, with a leader.
• Ask the flyer to assess the head-up end of their flying as honestly as their strongest end.
• End each debrief on something that went well, with one focus for the next jump.

• APF Freefly and Angles Guide (APF006, August 2023): gear, planning and deployment (§3.1–3.3), recovering in the slot and never tracking away from an angle group (§4.3), breakoff (§5.10), and the lead flyer always belly to earth (§5.12).
• Jake Carlton, “Head Up Angles and the Breakoff Problem” (Skydive Mag): GPS separation figures for head-up and head-first breakoffs, the 1,500–2,000 ft lag after the transition, the 6,500–7,000 ft conversion window, the team layout and the in-place layout, and the group-size ceiling.
• The Leading Workshop (Modern Skydiving Concepts, 2021): screening participants, never chasing a flyer, deployment discipline and the debrief order.
• Newcastle Sport Parachute Club, Hunter Valley angle and movement jump guidelines: movement groups per load, the navigation brief with the load master, cloud, and the leader’s approval and belly orientation.
• The Freefly Project’s coaching guides: transitions around the line of flight, the speed-range skill, belly-led groups with a belly-to-belly handover, screening by demonstration, and the head-up angle breakoff guides.
• APF Operational Regulations (V01-2026) and the USPA Skydiver’s Information Manual 5-10 (2026), as jurisdictional context.

Regulations change, so each rule is given with its document edition, as context for where you jump.

• Australia (APF). Freefly formation jumps of more than 3 parachutists need the appropriate Freefly Crest, and more than 10 need a Star Crest (OR 9.2.2, 9.1.3).
• An audible altimeter is mandatory on every freefly jump (OR 9.2.3).
• Movement-group leader and participant requirements apply (OR 9.9.2–9.9.3).
• At least 1,000 ft between breakoff and planned deployment is mandatory (OR 9.1.4).
• The assessing coach in Australia is an APF Freefly Coach. Elsewhere, a national or drop zone equivalent.
• Hunter Valley (Newcastle Sport Parachute Club). No more than two movement groups on one load without DZSO approval, no movement jumps in or near cloud, and every movement group led by a DZSO-approved leader flying belly to earth.
• Elsewhere. USPA SIM 5-10 is the reference recommendation, and leader approval sits with drop zone management. Follow your federation and your drop zone.

Acronym key. APF, Australian Parachute Federation. OR, the APF Operational Regulations. DZSO, drop zone safety officer. USPA SIM, the United States Parachute Association Skydiver’s Information Manual.