Head-Down 401 — Organise head-down big-ways
version 2026-09-27
Prerequisites
What you’re learning
You’ll learn to organise a head-down big-way: size the group, slot each flyer, brief the jump and design the breakoff. This follows Head-Down 302, Head-Down 303 and Head-Down 304, because you fly the float, diver and base slots before you ask others to.
In Australia, every jumper on a head-down jump of more than 3 needs a Freefly Crest (Head-Down), and above 10 a Star Crest as well.
Sizing and slotting
Set the group size and entry standard from the flyers’ currency, crests and proven slots, and the day’s conditions.
- The heaviest flyers float on a fast base, where their mass helps them match its fall rate.
- Front float anchors the base out the door, and mass there stops the base over-rotating. On a small jump, decide which role your heaviest flyer serves better.
- Lighter flyers dive: they have the range to stop, and get out of a tight door stack more easily.
Set the exit stack (base on grips, divers staggered, floats outside) and stage the float drop-off.
Breakoff:
- With others: start the base wave’s breakoff at the briefed altitude, built or not. Each wave turns to its radials, tracks, and loses the speed before deploying.
In Australia, groups must separate at least 1,000 ft above deployment altitude.
Designing the breakoff
On a big-way the staged breakoff altitudes do most of the separating.
A 12-way fan across 360° gives each jumper about 30° of radial, the same angle as a 6-way angle group across 180°. Head-down flyers start the track with almost no horizontal drive, unlike angle flyers, so neighbouring radials open little distance at first. Staged altitudes make up the difference.
For a single-stage breakoff, use the guides in Freefly 100. A two-stage breakoff is the default above a 12-way, and the better default above a 10-way when the group is newer to big-ways:
| Wave | Break off | Deploy | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stingers | 6,500 ft | 5,000 ft | 1,500 ft |
| Base | 5,500 ft | 4,000 ft | 1,500 ft |
A small, very experienced group can run each wave at the bare 1,000 ft minimum (stingers 6,000 to 5,000 ft, base 5,000 to 4,000 ft), with no slow-down margin. When unsure, use the 1,500 ft split and go higher.
The fan and jump run
A full 360° fan puts some radials up or down jump run, toward other groups’ columns. For any radial within about 30° of jump run, brief shade and hold: that flyer shades their track away from the line, and the neighbour on the safe side holds their radial and watches for them. Pack the fan across jump run and thin it along the line.
Brief the slow-down with the radials, because a track still fast at the pitch can give a hard opening. More in Improving the breakoff. AXIS covers the head-down breakoff, with a video.
The brief
- Brief the dive, the slots, the exit and the approach lanes until each flyer can tell you their job.
- Brief the breakoff: each flyer’s wave, breakoff and deployment altitudes and radial, and who shades or holds.
- Brief the abort, the lost-formation plan, and the overfloating and late-diver rules.
Useful drills
- The dive: run the mock-up and at least two full dirt dives.
Common mistakes
| What happens | Usual causes | Check |
|---|---|---|
| The formation isn’t building near breakoff | A group too big for its flyers, or the wrong slotting | Change the size or slotting next time |
| A flyer breaks off with the wrong wave | Audible set to the other wave’s altitude | Check each audible is set to its own wave |
Staying safe
Before the jump:
- Check every flyer’s crests and currency against the entry standard and your drop zone’s approval points.
- Agree exit separation with the load master both ways, allowing for your long stack, your drift and any radials up jump run.
In the air:
- If the formation isn’t building, hold the plan so everyone is where the breakoff expects them.
When you’ve got it
Debrief each jump on video without blame, give each failure a cause and a fix, and log the plan and next objective.
You’ve finished Head-Down 401 when the jumps you organise meet everything on the coach’s checklist below, run and broken off to plan on consecutive jumps.
Next
Head-Down 402: Organise multiple-aircraft loads, and Head-Down 403: Engineer big-way formations.
For coaches: the checklist, assessment conditions and coaching priorities
The checklist
1. Size and slot
- 1.1
- Set the group size against the flyers' experience, currency and the conditions.
- 1.2
- Assign each flyer to base, float or diver by weight, build and demonstrated competence, resolving the heaviest-flyer trade-off consciously.
- 1.3
- Confirm every participant's credentials and currency against the entry criteria and the local jurisdiction's approval points (e.g. Star Crest above a 10-way).
- 1.4
- Set the exit stack order (base grips, staggered divers, floats stacked outside) and the staged float drop-off timing.
2. Design the breakoff
- 2.1
- Choose single-stage or two-stage against the group size, verifying at least 1,000 ft banked per wave.
- 2.2
- Assign each flyer a breakoff wave, altitude, radial and deployment altitude giving about 30° of radial separation.
- 2.3
- Assign shade and hold for radials within about 30° of jump run.
- 2.4
- Coordinate exit separation with the loadmaster in both directions. A long stack needs more room from the group ahead; the group behind needs room for large drift and up-jump-run breakoffs.
3. Brief
- 3.1
- Brief the dive, the slots, the exit and the approach lanes so each flyer can state their own job back.
- 3.2
- Brief the breakoff, waves, altitudes, radials, shade/hold assignments, and confirm each flyer sets their audible to their own wave.
- 3.3
- Run the mock-up and at least two full dirt-dives including the breakoff.
- 3.4
- Brief the abort and lost-formation plans, and confirm the group's understanding of the overfloating and late-diver rules.
4. Run the jump
- 4.1
- Key the exit and lead as briefed.
- 4.2
- Monitor the build and traffic, holding the plan rather than forcing a formation that is not building.
- 4.3
- Initiate the breakoff on the base wave at the briefed altitude regardless of formation completeness.
5. Debrief
- 5.1
- Run a video debrief that classifies approaches (clean / corrected / aborted) without blame.
- 5.2
- Attribute failed approaches and any traffic conflict to a cause and a fix.
- 5.3
- Record the jump and the plan, and set the group's next objective.
Criteria in bold are safety-critical: they protect the organiser’s whole load. A breakoff or credential error by the organiser puts everyone on the jump at risk, so a coach should not sign off the course while a bold criterion is Not Yet Satisfactory, however good the rest of the organising. Outside a course they are strongly recommended practice. Regulation stays with your federation and your drop zone.
Assessment conditions
- Real organised head-down big-way jumps, a 6-way minimum recommended, with some at 10-way or larger.
- The design work is assessed on the ground, and the breakoff in the air.
- Video of the jumps. Outside footage is the most useful for an organiser’s debrief.
- The assessor is an experienced head-down big-way organiser, or a freefly coach current in the discipline, using this checklist. In Australia, an APF Freefly Coach. Elsewhere, the national or drop zone equivalent.
- Who may take part in each jump is set by regulation (see “Regulations where you jump”).
- Each criterion is marked Satisfactory or Not Yet Satisfactory, and completion is recorded as a milestone.
- As a guide, that means big-ways of 6-way and larger, some above a 10-way and some two-stage, over at least two events or days, first alongside an experienced organiser.
- If you already organise head-down big-ways, your coach can assess one organised jump and a talk through your breakoff design, with your record, video and a word from a recognised organiser.
- Who organises, leads or joins each jump stays with your drop zone.
Coaching priorities
Safety first, then fun, then learning. The organiser owns the load’s safety. The breakoff design and the credential check can’t be made up for by good work elsewhere, and the plan holds whether the formation builds or not. Run debriefs without blame, and end each one on something that went well, with one focus for the next jump.
Where this comes from
- The Freefly Project’s breakoff design guides: the fan-out arc, the two-stage altitude tables, where flyers go by weight, and coordinating exit separation for a big-way.
- APF Freefly and Angles Guide (APF006): the freefly exit-altitude and airspace-check guides (§3.2–3.3).
- United States Parachute Association Skydiver’s Information Manual 6-1 and 6-2: higher breakoffs for fast fall rates, and slowing down gradually before deployment.
- Australian Skydiver Magazine, issue 68: breaking off a big-way in waves.
- APF Operational Regulations (V01-2026) and APF Training Operations Manual, 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). Head-down jumps of more than 3 parachutists need an FFC-HD (OR 9.2.2(c)).
- More than 10 need every participant to hold a Star Crest plus the applicable crest (OR 9.1.3, TOM 5.7.1).
- Groups separate at least 1,000 ft above deployment altitude (OR 9.1.4), and an audible altimeter is mandatory on every freefly descent (OR 9.2.3).
- Elsewhere, follow your federation and your drop zone.
Acronym key. APF, Australian Parachute Federation. OR, the APF Operational Regulations (V01-2026). TOM, the APF Training Operations Manual. FFC-HD, Freefly Crest, Head-Down.
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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.