Head-Up 102 — Move and transition head-up

The checklist

1. Plan the jump

1.1

State the session's single declared objective and success criteria (one movement skill or transition family per jump).

1.2

Declare to the load the working heading 90° to jump run, the intended drive directions and distances, and the planned opening area.

1.3

State breakoff and deployment altitudes (guide: 5,500 ft minimum for head-up work, most modern jumpers use 5,500 ft for any freefly group and will generally not accept 4,500 ft).

1.4

Plan the jump to stay over the noted exit point.

2. Prepare

2.1

Complete a freefly-specific gear check: handles, BOC, riser covers, closing loop, helmet, visual altimeter, audible set and functioning, when truly solo, two audibles should be regarded as mandatory best practice: an audible can fail silently and a soloist has no group redundancy.

2.2

Fit the pull-up-cord drift indicator (designated drift-diagnosis jumps only) by tying it to a shoelace, good practice, keeping it as far as possible from handles and deployment equipment and confirming it streams free of snag points. Any cord added to gear is a snag hazard, so check it cannot reach or foul anything.

2.3

Rehearse each planned movement and transition on the ground, five times eyes open and five times eyes closed.

2.4

Confirm exit order and separation with the load.

3. Perform

3.1

Exit presenting the back to the relative wind and establish a neutral sit on the working heading within 5 seconds.

3.2

Check altitude between each manoeuvre or at least every 5 seconds.

3.3

Drive forward a briefed distance (~5–10 m guide) by pushing the legs toward a stand and breaking forward at the hips, a larger hip break than the tunnel permits, stopping in the neutral sit on heading (±45° guide).

3.4

Drive backward a short briefed distance with gradual, controlled input, stopping without corking.

3.5

Side-slide left and right a briefed distance, pushing down on the travel-side leg, dropping the same-side elbow and extending the opposite hand away to form a downward wing on the travel side with the upper legs and arms, stopping on heading after each slide.

3.6

Perform a level change down and back up (legs extend to speed up; arms out, lean back, lower legs catching air to slow), re-establishing the neutral-sit fall rate.

3.7

Perform a cartwheel transition (foot to opposite knee, tuck to a ball, force the legs down on return), re-establishing the sit on the original heading (±45° guide) within 3 seconds.

3.8

Perform a back-flip transition (air caught on the back of the calves, arms push down, tuck), re-establishing the sit on the original heading.

3.9

Perform a front-flip transition (legs tucked under the torso catching air on the shins, tuck to a ball, sit and force the legs down), re-establishing the sit on the original heading.

3.10

Read the drift indicator between manoeuvres, naming the drift (cord to the knee = forward drive; cord streaming away from the leg = backslide) and correcting any undeclared drift before continuing.

3.11

Perform a slow static turn as a drive check (per the FFP-F100 solo protocol, drive that is invisible on a fixed heading becomes obvious in a turn), correcting any drive found before continuing.

3.12

Execute the vertical recovery position immediately on any loss of control, resuming work only when stable and back on the working heading.

4. Complete

4.1

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

4.2

Transition to back-fly, check the airspace above and behind, back-track, then roll to belly and track 90° to jump run, slowing to belly speeds.

4.3

Deploy at the planned altitude after clearing airspace.

4.4

Fly the opening area and canopy plan briefed to the load.

5. Review

5.1

Debrief against the declared objective using video and the drift-indicator evidence.

5.2

Compare the opening point against the exit point to audit total drift.

5.3

Identify one fault and its correction for the next jump.

5.4

Log the jump with criteria results and a short logbook reflection naming the unit and skills assessed (e.g. "HU102, forward drive and cartwheel").

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, and should teach the reason behind each one. Outside a course they are strongly recommended practice. Regulation stays with your federation and your drop zone.

Assessment conditions

• Sky jumps from 10,000 ft or higher (recommended).
• Video of every assessment jump, with the flyer identifiable: coach-flown, ground-to-air or tunnel video. Helmet-mounted video counts only where the flyer meets local camera rules.
• Equipment: a visual altimeter, a working audible (two when the jump is flown on your own), freefly-suitable gear, and the pull-up-cord drift indicator on the jumps planned for drift work.
• Conditions within the flyer’s cleared limits.
• Tunnel work can count for the movement and transition criteria. The drift, altitude and breakoff criteria are assessed in the sky.
• For a flyer who already flies the skill, any of these routes:
  • a logbook of head-up movement jumps, coached or on their own
  • tunnel records at IBA Static Level 3, plus sky jumps for the drift and breakoff criteria
  • a video portfolio of all three transitions and movement with clean stops
  • a challenge assessment of two jumps against the full checklist.
• The IBA Static Level 3 content (sit turns, head-up forward and backward, sit-fly up and down, back to sit transitions) comes from third-party summaries. Check it against IBA material.
• The assessor is a freefly coach current in head-up coaching, using this checklist.
• Each criterion is marked Satisfactory or Not Yet Satisfactory.
• As a guide, it takes about eight jumps, coached and then solo, over at least two days within six months.
• Tunnel sessions can replace up to half the skill-building jumps, because the wall shows every bit of drift (Tunnel to sky). The drift, altitude and breakoff work is flown in the sky.
• If you already fly head-up movement, your coach can assess you on two jumps, or from your logbook, video and tunnel records with sky jumps for the drift and breakoff.

Coaching priorities

Safety first, then fun, then learning. Hold the bold criteria to the standard above and teach the reason for each. Set one objective per jump, one movement skill or one transition family, which keeps the load on the flyer light and the jump enjoyable. End each debrief on something that went well, with one thing to improve.

• APF Freefly and Angles Guide (APF006, August 2023): exit order, working 90° to jump run and the breakoff and deployment guides (§3.2–3.3), corking and the vertical recovery position (Part 4), and head-up exits, fall rate, movement, transitions and common problems (§6.3–6.10).
• AXIS Flight School, Foundations of Flight columns in Parachutist: sit-fly fall-rate changes and the altitude check between manoeuvres (Sharp), head-up side slides, and the head-up breakoff with belly speeds before deployment.
• Lesley Gale, “Sit Flying” (Skydive Mag): movement technique and fall-rate inputs.
• Alethia Austin on practising freefly on your own (Skydive Mag): the pull-up-cord drift indicator, a backslide incident, declaring your drive distance to the load, and staying over the exit point.
• Alethia Austin, “Freefly Breakoff”, and Skydive Arizona’s beginner freefly material: breaking off through the back before going to belly.
• Skydive University: the eyes-open, eyes-closed rehearsal.
• Jake Carlton, “Head Up Angles and the Breakoff Problem” (Skydive Mag): GPS data showing a head-up breakoff is far less efficient than a head-first one.
• The Freefly Project’s coaching guides: the sky-sit drive technique, the side-slide wing, the static-turn drive check, two audibles on jumps on your own, and the freefly and head-up breakoff guides.
• APF Operational Regulations (V01-2026) and APF Training Operations Manual (V01-2025), as jurisdictional context. IBA Static Level 3 as the tunnel route for experienced flyers.

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

• Australia (APF). Freefly jumps on your own and 2-way freefly jumps are available from Certificate Class B with DZSO approval (TOM 5.7.1; OR 9.2.2(b)).
• A functioning audible altimeter is mandatory on every freefly descent (OR 9.2.3).
• Training descents are briefed by a Freefly Coach under DZSO supervision (TOM 5.7.3; OR 11.1.3–11.1.5). Elsewhere, the national or drop zone equivalent of an APF Freefly Coach.

Acronym key. APF, Australian Parachute Federation. OR, the APF Operational Regulations. TOM, the APF Training Operations Manual. DZSO, drop zone safety officer. IBA, International Bodyflight Association.