Head-Down 102 — Control and transition head-down

The checklist

1. Plan the jump/session

1.1

State the jump's (or tunnel session's) single declared objective and success criteria.

1.2

Confirm own currency and the drill plan against conditions and exit order relative to other groups.

1.3

State the working heading (perpendicular to jump run) and the ground reference used for drift checks.

1.4

State breakoff and deployment altitudes (guide: 5,000 ft for groups up to a 4-way, 5,500 ft for 5-way or larger, most modern freeflyers use 5,500 ft for any freefly group and will generally not accept 4,500 ft), and the audible verification plan for the jump. Audibles fail silently (see Knowledge evidence), so the profile is confirmed against the briefed breakoff. On an audible that annunciates climbing altitude, the climb beeps double as a function check (the 2,000 ft beep) and a profile check (the breakoff-altitude beeps heard on the climb). On an audible that arms only on freefall detection and gives no climb beeps, this in-plane check does not apply; function is verified per the manufacturer's method instead.

2. Prepare

2.1

Complete a freefly-specific gear check: handles, BOC, bridle cover, riser covers, closing loop, helmet, and audible(s) set and functioning, two functioning audibles should be regarded as mandatory best practice before any solo freefly.

2.2

Brief the drill sequence with the coach and rehearse each transition on the ground (dirt dive / walk-through).

2.3

Confirm exit order and separation with the load.

2.4

Verify audible function and profile on the climb, climb-annunciating devices only (see the device caveat in Knowledge evidence). Listen for the 2,000 ft beep when the seatbelts come off as a function check. Read the breakoff-altitude profile beeps heard higher on the climb as a separate profile check. Use a 12,000 ft beep as the final functionality check and the reminder to begin gear checks. On a device that gives no climb beeps, silence on the climb is normal, verify function per the manufacturer's method rather than treating the silence as a failed or passed check.

3. Perform

3.1

Exit presenting head and shoulders to the relative wind and establish the neutral head-down (daffy for solo work) within 5 seconds (guide).

3.2

Maintain the solo drift-control protocol throughout working time: a slow static turn (never a carve) in a daffy, checking position over the exit ground reference; on any cork, return to back-fly, rotate 90°, re-transition and resume.

3.3

Perform a 360° turn in each direction using pressure on the leg opposite the turn, arms remaining in their stability role, stopping within ±45° of the start heading.

3.4

Initiate and stop forward drive using chin and hip input, holding heading within ±45°.

3.5

Initiate and stop backward drive using chin and hip input, holding heading within ±45°.

3.6

Side-slide left and right a briefed distance, holding heading within ±45° and stopping cleanly after each slide with no residual drive left running.

3.7

Perform a level change down and back up using leg extension/width, restabilising on the reference level (coach, tunnel reference or video line) within 3 seconds.

3.8

Perform a head-down-to-head-down front-flip transition (head tilt initiates, legs tucked for momentum, legs catch air to stop rotation), re-establishing vertical within ±45° of the entry heading.

3.9

Perform a head-down-to-head-down back-flip transition, re-establishing vertical within ±45° of the entry heading.

3.10

Execute the vertical recovery position immediately on any loss of control, ball up, never flatten to belly, resuming work only when stable and the airspace is confirmed clear.

4. Complete

4.1

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

4.2

Turn 180° and transition progressively to a track 90° from jump run (back-track first where briefed), checking airspace throughout.

4.3

Deploy at the planned altitude after decelerating to belly-to-earth speeds (≥1,000 ft slow-down guide) and clearing airspace.

4.4

Fly the briefed canopy traffic plan for the load.

5. Review

5.1

Debrief against the declared objective using video.

5.2

Identify one control fault (e.g. arm-led turn, unintended drive during "neutral", over/under-rotated transition) and its correction for the next jump or session.

5.3

Write the jump or session up in the logbook with a reflection naming the unit and skills assessed (e.g. "FFP-HD102, 360s stopped in the quadrant; forward drive still arm-led"); the curriculum gives log entries meaning.

Criteria in bold are safety-critical: they protect the flyer and everyone else on the load. A coach should not sign off the course 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.

The head-down cartwheel is optional and is not assessed on this course.

Assessment conditions

• Sky jumps from 10,000 ft or higher (recommended).
• Tunnel work in instructor-supervised sessions, with head-down spotting to the operator’s rules, including bailing to back-fly on the coach’s signal.
• Video of every assessment jump or session, with the flyer identifiable: coach-flown, tunnel camera or outside video.
• Equipment: a visual altimeter, a working audible (two when the jump is flown on the flyer’s own, as best practice), an AAD (recommended), and freefly-suitable gear to the Freefly 100 checklist.
• Conditions within the flyer’s cleared limits.
• Ask about shoulder history before vertical work. The sit to head-down transition and these arm positions load the shoulder hard. Australian cases include torn shoulder ligaments as well as a dislocation that stopped a flyer reaching the pilot chute. Adjust the arm position and recovery sequence, and seek medical clearance where appropriate. A shoulder that cannot reach the pilot chute is a deployment failure.
• Starting without Head-Down 101: tunnel records of back-fly, sit and head-down static to International Bodyflight Association (IBA) Level 4 entry standard, with head-down neutral flown off the net, plus one check jump against the Head-Down 101 checklist.
• Routes for a flyer who already flies head-down. Tunnel: instructor-signed records at IBA Static Level 4 plus one coach 2-way check jump against the full checklist, flown as a fun 2-way that confirms the controls work in the sky. Tunnel records do not cover exits, drift control, breakoff or deployment.
• Video: a portfolio of the drill set including the flips, logbook records of recent head-down jumps, and one check jump against the full checklist.
• Crest: a current head-down crest (British Skydiving FF2 or equivalent), with currency inside the recommended window, may be credited directly.
• For a flyer with tunnel records, brief the check jump with the tunnel-to-sky points. A flyer who flies a skill well in the tunnel and cannot reproduce it in the sky at first is normal and coachable.
• The assessor is a freefly coach current in head-down coaching. Each criterion is marked Satisfactory or Not Yet Satisfactory.
• As a guide, it takes about 8 skill jumps over at least two days within six months.
• Coached tunnel time of 45–60 minutes can replace up to half the skill jumps, but fly the full drill set on at least 3 sky jumps.
• If you already fly head-down, your coach can assess you on one check jump, with International Bodyflight Association Static Level 4 records or video and your logbook, or credit a current head-down crest.

Coaching priorities

Safety first, then fun, then learning. Keep the protocol for jumps on the flyer’s own (daffy, static turn, two audibles) and the recovery drill ahead of getting through drills. Set one objective per jump or tunnel session, and end each debrief on something that went well, with one thing to improve.

A tunnel-trained flyer may have spent $20k or more on training. Acknowledge it in the brief, and watch their tunnel video: it is evidence you need, and the conversion depends on their trust.

Set the frame, something like: “You’ve learned a lot in the tunnel, and we can convert it to the sky. It may take longer than you expect, but once it clicks your progression speeds up. I’ll teach what the tunnel doesn’t cover, so be patient, and let yourself fly much less smoothly at first.” An early run of discouraging jumps can end a progression.

Tunnel-to-sky points to brief:

• The more tunnel hours a flyer has, the more ingrained tunnel-sized inputs are. Name the erratic first jumps in the brief so they are expected.
• Tunnel flyers are used to transitions at low speed into a large, high-drag position (thighs 90° to the torso, a big rear daffy leg, hands wide). The sky starts sub-terminal with almost no controls engaged, and the legs come in slowly, gently and much less than in the tunnel.
• The 30–45° front-daffy thigh bend would put the flyer on the net in the tunnel. Say so, so it doesn’t feel wrong.
• A tunnel rotation runs 3–5 minutes and a head-down skydive about 30 seconds, so altitude awareness decays on the first jumps back from a long tunnel block. Step the intensity down, run two audibles plus visual checks, and keep regular sky currency alongside tunnel blocks.
• On exit, think gear, pins and jump run. Fly freefly-tight gear, and learn traffic in a structured way before big-ways.

Tunnel time to head-down static at a basic signed-off level is typically 10–20 hours. A flyer focused only on static may get there in around 10. Mixing in dynamic moves (front and back layouts, back carving) takes 20+ hours, and full dynamic training is a 100+ hour tunnel progression.

The second Australian hard-opening case: multiple vertebral fractures on a distracted jump on the flyer’s own, with the audible missing. Teach the mechanism and the lesson, and name no jumper. An unnoticed drive at head-down speed puts other groups at risk, and they never agreed to share the jump.

AXIS Flight School videos: head-down basics and head-down turns.

• APF Freefly and Angles Guide (APF006, August 2023): the neutral head-down positions and speeds, exits, fall rate, drive and turns, the daffy, flips, the shuttlecock principle, the exercise order and when to start carving, and the exit-altitude, breakoff and recovery-position guides.
• USPA Skydiver’s Information Manual 6-2 and 6-3: corking speeds, altitude awareness, drift and jump run, head-down terminal speed and freefall time.
• British Skydiving Operations Manual 6.6.4: the FF2 skill list, as a cross-check.
• CSPA Freefly Ground Briefing (2022): at least 1,000 ft to slow down before deploying, including on jumps on your own.
• Mason Corby, “Learning Head Down” (Skydive Mag): stillness, and moving gradually between positions.
• Alethia Austin on freefly on your own and on freefly breakoff (Skydive Mag): the working heading 90° to jump run, ground-reference drift checks, and the back-track then belly-track breakoff.
• Milne, “Dive Dr, I Keep Corking”: flying a daffy both ways, and keeping the arms in their role.
• Skydive Arizona (Nelson-Lowe): bailing to back-fly at breakoff, and the speed difference in a cork.
• IBA Static Level 4: the tunnel head-down skill set, flying off the net, and the bail-to-back-fly convention.
• Matt Boag, “Tunnel & Sky” (Australian Skydiver Magazine, issue 96): converting tunnel skill to the sky.
• Australian Skydiver Magazine incident record: injuries from unstable vertical deployments (issues 53 and 69) and shoulder injuries in the sit to head-down transition (issues 56 and 83).
• The Freefly Project’s coaching guidance: the daffy and static turn on jumps on your own, two audibles, the audible climb checks, and the tunnel-to-sky conversion points.
• APF Operational Regulations (V01-2026) and APF Training Operations Manual (V01-2025), as jurisdictional context.

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

• Australia (APF). Head-down training descents require prior completion of Freefly Training Table Stage 1 (Head-Up Level 1) (OR 9.2.2(c)(i)).
• Freefly training descents are briefed by a Freefly Coach with DZSO approval (TOM 5.7.3, OR 9.2.2). Head-down training descents also need DZSO approval, and any 2-way reference flyer should hold an FFC-HD (TOM 5.7.1, 5.7.5(e)).
• No trainee may jump head-down with an unqualified freeflyer as their reference. Early head-down should be on the trainee’s own or with an appropriately qualified instructor or Freefly Coach (TOM Appendix L).
• A functioning audible altimeter is mandatory on every freefly descent (OR 9.2.3).
• The assessor in Australia is an APF Freefly Coach. Elsewhere, the national or drop zone equivalent, for example a British Skydiving FF2-grade coach nominated by the CI or AI.

Acronym key. APF, Australian Parachute Federation. OR, the APF Operational Regulations. TOM, the APF Training Operations Manual. DZSO, drop zone safety officer. FFC-HD, the head-down freefly crest. CI, chief instructor. AI, advanced instructor.