Head-Up 202 — Demonstrate crest-standard head-up flying

The checklist

1. Plan the assessment jump

1.1

State the jump's dive flow, coach signals and per-criterion success standards before boarding.

1.2

Confirm own currency, the coach's brief and the conditions against personal limits, declining the jump if outside them.

1.3

State breakoff (5,500 ft guide, the recommended minimum for any head-up group) and deployment altitudes, and the lost-partner plan.

2. Prepare

2.1

Complete a freefly-specific gear check on self and cross-check with the coach (handles clear, BOC pouch condition, bridle covered, riser covers and pin flaps secure, closing loop tight, chest strap tightened for freefly, leg-strap bungee, hard helmet, visual altimeter, audible altimeter set and functioning).

2.2

Dirt-dive the full dive flow including every coach signal (360, front flip, back flip) until each response is automatic.

2.3

Confirm exit order and separation with the load (freeflyers after flat flyers when jump run is into wind; separation by ground covered, never a fixed count).

3. Perform the assessment dive flows

Jump 1 (Freefly and Angles Guide Head Up 1 / Training Table Stage 1):

3.1

Launch the linked exit and establish a stable sit within 5 seconds of separation from the hill.

3.2

Break from grips and face off with the coach, holding heading ±45° in the neutral sit.

3.3

Perform an in-place 360° turn, stopping on the original heading ±45° (finishing pointed in the same quadrant).

3.4

Perform a front flip, re-establishing the controlled sit on heading within 3 seconds.

3.5

Drive forward to re-establish the face-off after the coach backs off, stopping level (head-height tolerance) without overshoot or contact.

3.6

Follow the coach through level changes up and down, re-establishing level within 3 seconds each way.

Jump 2 (Freefly and Angles Guide Head Up 2 / Training Table Stage 2):

3.7

Exit unlinked into head-up and fly to a face-off within 5 metres of the coach's base.

3.8

Approach and take a hand-to-hand dock without destabilising the coach.

3.9

Perform a front flip and a back flip on the coach's signals, returning to the sit on heading within 3 seconds each.

3.10

Perform a 360° on signal and re-take the hand-to-hand dock.

Both jumps:

3.11

Fly the entire flow free of erratic or unpredictable movement (no orbiting, no backsliding through the coach's airspace).

3.12

Execute the vertical recovery position immediately on any loss of control, re-approaching only when stable.

4. Complete

4.1

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

4.2

Transition smoothly from head-up to back-fly, check the airspace above and behind for a clear flight path, back-track, then roll to belly and build a progressive track 90° from jump run.

4.3

Deploy at the planned altitude after visually clearing airspace, with separation completed at least 1,000 ft above planned deployment.

4.4

Fly the agreed canopy separation plan after opening (turn 90° off jump run).

5. Review and compile evidence

5.1

Debrief each assessment jump against the published checklist using the video.

5.2

Self-assess each criterion Satisfactory / Not Yet Satisfactory from own video before receiving the assessor's marks, justifying any difference.

5.3

Compile the evidence pack (videos, signed checklists, logbook entries, knowledge-evidence record) and present it for the sign-off chain.

5.4

Write both jumps up in the logbook naming the unit and skills assessed (e.g. "FFP-HU202 assessment jump 1, Stage 1 flow") with reflections, criteria results and the coach's countersignature, entries that name the unit make the logbook legible to the drop zone safety officer and chief instructor who sign from it.

Criteria 4.1–4.3 are part of both dive flows: each flow in the APF Freefly and Angles Guide ends with the flyer starting breakoff at the agreed height and moving smoothly into a track while checking the air.

Criteria in bold are safety-critical: they protect the flyer and everyone else on the load. They are 1.3, the audible in 2.1, 3.12, 4.1 and 4.3. 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.

Assessment conditions

• Sky jumps from 10,000 ft or higher (recommended), the two flows flown as separate jumps. Tunnel time supports rehearsal only.
• Conditions within the flyer’s cleared limits and suitable for a fair assessment, in the assessor’s judgement.
• Video of both jumps, coach-flown or helmet-mounted, with the flyer identifiable. The video is both the assessment record and the coach’s witness record, so without it there is nothing for the sign-off to verify.
• Equipment: a visual altimeter, a working audible (a second recommended), freefly-suitable gear to the Freefly 100 standard, a hard helmet, and an AAD (recommended).
• The assessor is a freefly coach current in head-up coaching, using the published checklist, which the flyer sees in advance. The coach flies the coach slot and gives no help in the air.
• In Australia the assessor is an APF Freefly Coach, the person the crest schedule requires to witness and verify the jumps. The drop zone safety officer co-signs each stage and the chief instructor completes the endorsement. Elsewhere, the national or drop zone equivalent, such as a British Skydiving FF1/FF2 evaluator.
• Each criterion is marked Satisfactory or Not Yet Satisfactory, and the course Competent or Not Yet Competent. A single jump never completes the course.
• A Not Yet Satisfactory on a bold criterion means the flyer re-flies that flow in full after coaching. For any other Not Yet Satisfactory item, the flyer re-flies only the affected flow.
• Your coach will also ask you about the breakoff guides and their reasons, corking, exit order, your gear and the crest sign-offs.
• If a jump falls short, you work on the fix with your coach and fly that jump again.
• As a guide, start within 6 months of finishing Head-Up 201, allow 2–6 rehearsal jumps of the flows over at least two days, and fly the two jumps within 3 months of each other, all within 6 months. Tunnel time can rehearse the flows, but both jumps are sky jumps.
• At the end you hold the video, signed checklist and logbook entry for each jump, your coach’s notes on the questions, and a list of your recent head-up jumps. In Australia that is what the crest application needs, and the Australian freefly crest system explains who signs what.
• If you already fly head-up 2-ways, you can skip Head-Up 201 and the rehearsal jumps with 20 or more logged head-up 2-way sky jumps as a guide, and video, a head-up grade from another country such as British Skydiving FF1, or International Bodyflight Association Static Level 3 records plus recent head-up sky jumps. You still fly both jumps with a coach.

Coaching priorities

Safety first, then fun, then learning. Hold the bold criteria to the standard above and never trade them for a pass. Keep the pressure down so the jumps stay enjoyable: a relaxed flyer flies the standard they trained to. Treat a Not Yet Satisfactory flow as a re-fly. End every debrief, including after a re-fly result, on something that went well, with one thing to improve.

• APF Freefly and Angles Guide (APF006, August 2023): gear, exit order and breakoff guides (§3), corking and the vertical recovery position (§4), head-up technique and faults (§6), and the Head Up 1 and 2 dive flows and their evaluation criteria (§8).
• APF Training Operations Manual (V01-2025): the Freefly Training Table Stages 1 and 2 in Appendix L, coach briefing, stage sign-off, the chief instructor’s endorsement and the crest application (5.7).
• APF Operational Regulations (V01-2026): 1,000 ft separation, freefly prerequisites, group-size limits, the audible, and training descents.
• APF Regulatory Schedules (V01-2026): the head-up crest requirements, the coach’s witness and verification, and the chief instructor’s written approval.
• British Skydiving Operations Manual (November 2024): the FF1 grade.
• USPA Skydiver’s Information Manual 5-2: the novice head-up standard, corking, exit order and higher breakoffs.
• Jake Carlton, “Head Up Angles and the Breakoff Problem” (Skydive Mag): GPS data on head-up breakoffs, behind the higher head-up breakoff guides.
• IBA Static Progression: Level 3 as the tunnel route for experienced flyers.
• Australian Skydiver Magazine, issues 55, 64, 70, 76 and 81–83: the history of the Freefly Crest and its split into head-up and head-down.

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

• Australia (APF). Freefly training requires at least a Certificate Class B, freefly-suitable equipment and a course of instruction per the TOM (OR 9.2.1). These jumps are training descents (OR 11.1.3(d)), briefed by a Freefly Coach (TOM 5.7.3), under DZSO authorisation and CI supervision (OR 11.1.4–11.1.5). Group size is 2, or 3 with DZSO approval for that jump (OR 9.2.2(b)). A functioning audible is mandatory on every freefly descent (OR 9.2.3).
• The two jumps are Freefly Training Table Stages 1–2. A current Freefly Coach and the DZSO sign each stage off in the logbook (TOM 5.7.5(b)). On Stage 2 the CI endorses the logbook “competent and safe” head-up (TOM 5.7.6).
• The coach witnesses and verifies these two jumps as the qualifying descents (RS 52, 6.2(a)), and no further crest jumps are flown. The CI gives written approval for head-up jumps of more than three (RS 52, 6.2(a)(iv)). The flyer then lodges Form C3, signed by the CI, with the prescribed fee (TOM 5.7.7).
• FFC HU is required for head-up jumps of more than three (OR 9.2.2(c)(ii)), up to 10-way. Beyond that, the Star Crest applies (OR 9.2.2(c)(iv)).
• TOM Appendix L Stage 1 calls an in-place 360 and stop, where RBT Head Up 1 calls a front flip. Stage 2 calls a front loop and back loop (a front flip and a back flip) on signal, where RBT Head Up 2 calls a 360 between docks. The jumps include both. The TOM prevails as the authorised manual, and the extra RBT moves add to it.
• OR 9.2.2(c)(ii) accepts an acceptable foreign equivalent to FFC HU. Recognising one, such as UK FF1, is a CI or APF decision, usually after a check jump with a Freefly Coach. An FFC HU application still follows the APF chain (RS 52, 6.2(a); Form C3).
• From 2010 to 2013 Australia had a single Freefly Crest, the approval point for freefly jumps of more than three. The head-up and head-down split was agreed in principle in May 2015 and appeared as separate crests in the ratings lists by mid-2016.
• UK (British Skydiving). This course aligns with FF1, the head-up grade: sit and stand control, fall rate, forward and back movement, turns both ways, flying relative, and back-fly recovery without corking (Ops Manual Sec 2, 6.6.1–6.6.3). FF1 caps groups at 3 without a freefly coach.
• US (USPA). USPA publishes recommendations only and has no head-up grade. This course covers the SIM 5-2 novice standard of holding a vertical axis and controlling movement up, down, forward and back head-up.

Acronym key. APF, Australian Parachute Federation. OR, the APF Operational Regulations. TOM, the APF Training Operations Manual. RBT, the recommended basic training tables (Freefly and Angles Guide). RS, the APF Regulatory Schedules. FFC HU, Freefly Crest Head-Up. CI, chief instructor. DZSO, drop zone safety officer. USPA, United States Parachute Association. SIM, the USPA Skydiver’s Information Manual.