FFP-HD305 300 · Group Draft: under review

Head-Down 305 — Fly intermediate vertical formation skydiving (VFS)

version 2026-09-27

Prerequisites

Draft: under review. This course is published for review and has not been formally approved. It is advice for flyers and coaches. Your federation's and your drop zone's rules come first.

Briefing cards for this course, for reading on your phone:

Flyer card Coach card

What you’re learning

You’ll learn to fly your slot in a vertical formation skydiving (VFS) team, the head-down and head-up version of belly formation skydiving: randoms, entry-level blocks, and fall rate matched with a partner at arm’s length. Head-Down 301 comes first, because you need to dock head-down comfortably before you add a draw and a clock.

In Australia, head-down formation jumps of 4-way or more need the Freefly Crest (Head-Down).

The draw

In Australian competition this is the 2-way Inter and 4-way Advanced level, with the hardest randoms and blocks out of the pool, three or four points a round. A random scores 1 point. A block scores 2: the formation at the top, then the same formation with the same grips at the bottom, after the inter move.

Working time is 35 seconds from a 13,000 ft exit, so learn the pool, and your slot in each point and inter, before the jump. Dirt-dive the exit, each point and each inter at the team’s tempo.

Breakoff:

With others: turn to your assigned track, and transition off head-down before you flatten out, checking the air above, below and behind you. Deploy at your planned altitude once the air is clear, then fly the canopy separation plan you briefed.

Randoms

Build randoms from outside the formation. A head-down flyer’s burble sits above their feet, so approach from the side, slightly below the formation’s hips. From directly above, that burble pushes you out of position, into the formation or another flyer.

Stop your closing speed, then take the grip lightly. A grip you pull on moves the formation. AXIS covers taking grips, with a video. More in Slot discipline.

Blocks and the inter

On most blocks one flyer or pair holds while the other flies the inter. As the holder, hold heading and fall rate, because any drift you add shows up in your partner’s inter. As the mover, fly the inter off your partner and stop the closure before the next grip.

Matching fall rate

At close range two head-down flyers feel each other’s burble. Correct with small inputs and wait for them to take effect. A big correction overshoots, and you pop up or sink past your partner.

Useful drills

Build-up: single randoms → randoms in sequence → blocks → short mixed draws
Grips: foot grips as well as hand grips, because several formations use them

Common mistakes

What happens	Usual causes	Check
The grip breaks, or the formation wobbles	Closing speed, reaching for the grip, pulling on it	Stop closure, fly your body to the grip, hold it lightly
You get pushed away on the approach	Coming in from above, into the feet-side burble	Approach from the side, slightly below the hips
The bottom of the block is off heading	The holder moving during the inter, or the mover losing sight of the holder	Holder stays still, mover flies off the holder
The inter runs long and the clock runs out	Not knowing the inter, a slow start after the top grip	Dirt-dive each inter at the team’s tempo

If you cork or the formation is lost, let go, because a failing grip drags the formation with you. Separate sideways, recover to back-fly clear of the formation, and rejoin once you’re stable and on level. More on corking.

Staying safe

Before the jump:

Brief breakoff and deployment altitudes and the plan if the formation is lost. VFS breaks off higher than belly, because head-down uses altitude faster. As a guide, breakoff altitude for VFS is usually 5,000 ft up to a 4-way and 5,500 ft for a 5-way or larger.
Gear check, audibles, exit order and separation are in Freefly 100.

In the air:

Check your altitude between points, because the draw keeps your eyes on your partner.

When you’ve got it

Debrief the video with your coach, find the cause of each dropped point, and log your slot, the points built and one correction to train next. More in The debrief.

You’ve finished Head-Down 305 when your flying meets everything on the coach’s checklist below.

Head-Down 401: Organise head-down big-ways, or on the VFS line, Head-Down 404: Fly open vertical formation skydiving (VFS).

For coaches: the checklist, assessment conditions and coaching priorities

The checklist

1. Plan the jump

1.1: State own slot and the draw (randoms and any entry-level blocks) for the jump, with the inter move for each block.
1.2: Confirm the exit formation and which point scores from exit.
1.3: State breakoff and deployment altitudes and the lost-formation plan; VFS breakoff runs higher than belly because the head-down fall rate spends altitude faster.

2. Prepare

2.1: Complete a freefly-specific gear check (handles, hand-deploy pouch, riser covers, closing loop, helmet, audible set and functioning).
2.2: Dirt-dive the exit, each point and each inter move at the team's tempo.
2.3: Confirm exit order and separation with the load.

3. Perform

3.1: Exit into the briefed formation, scoring the exit point where the draw allows.
3.2: Hold heading and fall rate as the stationary reference when own slot is the holder on a block.
3.3: Fly the inter move relative to the partner, arresting closure before taking the next grip.
3.4: Take grips (hand or foot) cleanly, at low relative speed, without loading or destabilising the formation.
3.5: Match fall rate at close range, riding the burble interaction between bodies with small inputs rather than overcorrecting.
3.6: Build randoms by approaching from outside the formation, never from directly above a head-down slot (into the feet-side burble).
3.7: Recover to a stable solo position on any cork or lost formation, separating laterally rather than holding a failing grip.

4. Complete

4.1: Initiate breakoff at the briefed altitude (within −0/+300 ft).
4.2: Turn to the assigned track, transitioning off head-down before flattening, checking airspace.
4.3: Deploy at the planned altitude after checking airspace.
4.4: Fly the briefed canopy separation plan.

5. Review

5.1: Debrief the draw against video, locating dropped points and their cause (grip quality, inter timing, heading error, fall-rate mismatch).
5.2: Identify one correction to train next.
5.3: Log the jump naming the unit and slot, the points built and the next focus.

Criteria in bold are safety-critical: they protect the flyer and everyone else in the formation. A cork at head-down fall rates or a low breakoff in a formation endangers more than the flyer. A coach should not sign off the course while a bold criterion is Not Yet Satisfactory, however many points the team built. Outside a course they are strongly recommended practice. Regulation stays with your federation and your drop zone.

Assessment conditions

Sky and tunnel. The criteria that build points with others are assessed in real formations.
Tunnel work is preparation only for exits, altitude and breakoff, which are assessed on sky jumps.
Sky jumps from 12,000 ft or higher (recommended), and higher, toward the 13,000 ft competition altitude, for longer draws.
Video of every assessment jump. It is the main debrief and assessment tool.
Equipment: a visual altimeter, a working audible, freefly-suitable gear, and an AAD (recommended).
The assessor is a freefly coach or a VFS competitor current in the discipline, using this checklist. In Australia, an APF Freefly Coach. Elsewhere, the national or drop zone equivalent.
Each criterion is marked Satisfactory or Not Yet Satisfactory. The course result is Competent or Not Yet Competent, recorded as a milestone.
Existing VFS flyers: logbook and video of 2-way or 4-way VFS training or Inter-class competition, VFS tunnel records plus sky jumps for exits and breakoff, or a challenge assessment across a set of draws against the full checklist with a qualifying assessor.
The jump count depends on the team: move on when each step of the build is clean, on sky jumps from 12,000 ft or higher.
Tunnel time counts for formations, grips and inters, and the exit, altitude and breakoff are assessed in the sky.
If you already fly VFS, your coach can assess you on a set of draws, or from your logbook and video.

Coaching priorities

Safety first, then fun, then learning. Hold the bold criteria to the standard above: never trade a cork recovery or a clean breakoff for a point.
Run debriefs off video, without blame.
Celebrate the points that built, and end on one focus for the next round.

Where this comes from

APF VFS dive pools (2-way Open and Inter, 2019; 4-way Open, 2023) and the APF competition categories for formation skydiving: the Inter and Advanced classes, scoring, blocks and inters, and foot grips.
USPA and AXIS Flight School VFS and Foundations of Flight material: the no-fly zone above a head-down flyer’s feet and approach angles.
IBA and AXIS Flight School VFS resources: 35-second working time, the training progression, tunnel repetition and video debrief.
APF Freefly and Angles Guide (APF006): freefly exit-altitude and airspace-check guides.
APF Operational Regulations (V01-2026), as jurisdictional context.

Regulations where you jump

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

Australia (APF). VFS is contested under APF competition rules.
Head-down formation jumps of more than 3 parachutists require the Freefly Crest, Head Down (FFC HD) (OR 9.2.2).
Formations of more than 10 also require the Star Crest (OR 9.1.3). That is beyond this course.
A functioning audible altimeter is mandatory on every freefly descent (OR 9.2.3).
Coached jumps are coached by an APF Freefly Coach in Australia, or the national or drop zone equivalent elsewhere.

Acronym key. APF, Australian Parachute Federation. OR, the APF Operational Regulations. FFC, freefly crest.

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The coaching priority order

Safety → Fun → Learning

Every course, briefing card and debrief on this site is built in this order. When two of them pull against each other on the day, keep safety ahead of fun, and fun ahead of getting through the course.

01 Safety

Safety comes first on every jump. Nothing further down this list is worth a safety risk.
02 Fun

Skydiving costs a lot. A jump you enjoy brings you back for the next coached one, and coached jumps are where the safety habits are practised.
03 Learning

The skills each course teaches. They stick best after a jump that was safe and fun, because you keep practising what you enjoy.