Head-Down 403 — Engineer big-way formations
version 2026-09-27
Prerequisites
What you’re learning
You’ll learn to design the formation a head-down big-way builds: the base, the build order, the wacker lines and the steps in head level. This follows Head-Down 401, which sizes the group, slots people and designs the breakoff, because this course designs what that group builds.
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.
Sting and dock
A head-down build uses two kinds of grip, and your design names each one.
- The base is the first group, everyone in it docked onto each other.
- Everyone who comes in after the base is a stinger. A sting takes a grip on the arm of someone already in the formation, without breaking their grip.
- Each sting presents an arm, and the next flyer docks onto it.
Slot discipline covers the grips themselves.
Base, lines and shape
- Pick the base shape and size: a round, a line or a small pod. Size it so the base flyers (Head-Down 304) can launch and hold it, and the first stingers have clean approach lanes.
- Wacker lines run out from the base. They give the outer flyers a stable structure to build along and keep their approach lanes apart.
- A round closes and locks. Lines and radial shapes grow outward. The choice sets how people approach, where the burbles sit and how the formation breaks off.
- Set a target the group can build and hold in the working time it has, and know when to stop adding people.
The stepped build
If every stinger closes on the same level as the formation, each one arrives at full closing speed on that level. The hit is hard and knocks the formation about.
Step the build. Later stingers set up progressively higher, so the formation grows as a stepped spiral and absorbs each closing stinger. Give a less experienced group gentler steps and a simpler shape.
Build order
Sequence the first stingers onto the base, then the sting-and-dock order after them, so every incoming flyer has clean air and a stable formation to take a grip on. Build from the inside out, so nobody stings an unstable edge.
Breakoff:
- With others: the breakoff runs outer to inner, as designed, so nobody tracks through the inner flyers. Improving the breakoff covers the waves.
Useful drills
- The build: run the mock-up and dirt-dive the build in the order you designed, so people fly the sequence they walked.
Common mistakes
| What happens | Usual causes | Check |
|---|---|---|
| Stingers knock the formation about as they close | Everyone closing on one level, or steps too steep for the group | Step the head levels, gentler for a less experienced group |
| The base can’t launch or hold | Base too big for the base flyers | A smaller base, or a simpler shape |
| Flyers cut across each other on the approach | Approach lanes crossing | Lay out the wacker lines again |
| A stinger grips an edge that is still moving | Build order running from the outside in | Build from the inside out |
| The formation never completes | Target too big for the working time, or the wrong build order | A smaller target, or a new order |
Staying safe
Before the jump:
- Brief the shape, the build order and the head levels until each flyer can tell you their slot, their level, and whether they sting or dock. A flyer unsure of their level can close flat and hit the formation.
- Check the design against the breakoff plan: the waves follow the build, outer flyers first, working in toward the base.
In the air:
- Each stinger sets up on their briefed level before closing.
When you’ve got it
After each designed jump, judge from the video whether the formation built to the design, give any failure a design cause, change the design, and record the design and the result.
You’ve finished Head-Down 403 when your designed jumps meet everything on the coach’s checklist below.
Next
Head-Down 404: Fly open vertical formation skydiving (VFS). For more than one aircraft, see Head-Down 402: Organise multiple-aircraft loads.
For coaches: the checklist, assessment conditions and coaching priorities
The checklist
1. Design the shape
- 1.1
- Choose the base shape and size against the base flyers' ability and the total group size.
- 1.2
- Lay out the formation (round or line, wacker lines, approach lanes) so approach lanes do not cross.
- 1.3
- Engineer the head-level stepping into the build so the formation absorbs closing stingers as a stepped spiral, matched to the group's skill level.
- 1.4
- Set the target the group can reach and hold in the available working time.
2. Set the build order
- 2.1
- Assign the build sequence, who stings, and who docks onto each presented arm, so every incoming flyer has clean air and a stable formation to take a grip on.
- 2.2
- Match slots to flyers by weight and build (heavy on the fast base's floats and the exit anchor; light divers).
- 2.3
- Sequence the build inside-out so no flyer stings an unstable edge.
3. Brief and test the design
- 3.1
- Brief the shape, the build order and the head-level stepping so each flyer can state their slot, their level, and whether they sting or dock onto a presented arm.
- 3.2
- Run the mock-up and dirt-dive the build in the designed order.
- 3.3
- Confirm the design composes with the breakoff plan (waves match the build's outer-to-inner order).
4. Judge the build
- 4.1
- Judge from video whether the formation built to the design, and where the shape failed.
- 4.2
- Attribute a failed build to a design cause (base too big, steps too steep, lane crossing, wrong build order) and revise the design.
- 4.3
- Record the design and the result for the next iteration.
Criteria in bold are safety-critical: they protect every flyer on the load. A build that meets closing stingers on a flat level, or crosses approach lanes, puts the load at risk. A coach should not sign off the course while a bold criterion is Not Yet Satisfactory, however good the rest of the design. Outside a course they are strongly recommended practice. Regulation stays with your federation and your drop zone.
Assessment conditions
- Real designed head-down big-way jumps.
- The design is assessed on the ground, and against the build on video. Video is the main tool for judging whether the shape built.
- The assessor is an experienced head-down big-way organiser, or a freefly coach current in the discipline, using the published Head-Down 403 checklist.
- Each criterion is marked Satisfactory or Not Yet Satisfactory. The course result is recorded as a milestone.
- There is no set number of jumps. As a guide, build a record of formations you designed that built and held, across a range of sizes and shapes, first alongside an experienced organiser and then as the designer.
- If you already design head-down big-ways, bring your designs, video of the builds and a word from a recognised organiser; one designed jump against the checklist, including the stepped build, completes it.
- Who organises or joins a big-way stays with your drop zone and the crest rules where you jump.
Coaching priorities
Safety first, then fun, then learning. A design that steps the build to absorb closing stingers and keeps approach lanes clear is the safety core of this course, and a strong result elsewhere does not make up for a miss on either. Run debriefs without blame, and end each one on something that worked, with one design change for the next jump.
Where this comes from
- The Freefly Project’s coaching doctrine: base and stinger craft, the clean approach lanes a design gives the incoming flyers, slotting by weight, and the sting and dock terms used in big-way builds.
- Australian Skydiver Magazine, issue 68, pages 64–65: the stepped-spiral “weed-whacker” build, and docking from below only when the grip improves the formation.
- Big-way build sequencing: the inner flyers hold and the outer flyers move.
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 a Freefly Crest, Head-Down. More than 10 need every participant to hold a Star Crest plus the applicable crest (OR 9.2.2, 9.1.3; TOM 5.7.1).
- In Australia the assessor is an APF Freefly Coach. Elsewhere, a national or drop zone equivalent.
- Follow your federation and your drop zone.
Acronym key. APF, Australian Parachute Federation. OR, the APF Operational Regulations. TOM, the APF Training Operations Manual.
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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.