{"id":62425,"date":"2026-05-28T19:14:47","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T19:14:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/?p=62425"},"modified":"2026-06-01T14:16:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T14:16:55","slug":"head-up-angles-and-the-breakoff-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skydivemag.com\/new\/head-up-angles-and-the-breakoff-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"Head Up Angles and the Breakoff Problem"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Head up angle breakoffs may feel fast, but the numbers tell a different story. Jake Carlton breaks down years of data from head up and headfirst angles.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ok, so you\u2019ve participated in a couple of angle camps and shred every weekend with the boys. You\u2019re feeling super confident despite not being able to fly on level on the belly. Now what\u2019s the next step? Head up angles, for sure!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All jokes aside, if any of you have spent any time flying with me recently, you have probably heard my current disdain for flying head up angles. I want to make it clear: I don\u2019t actually dislike head up angles. What I dislike is the exact scenario above, where adequate progression steps aren\u2019t met prior to diving into the progression of flying angles feet first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, if you\u2019re reading this and asking, \u201cWhat is head up angle flying?\u201d this is definitely not the article for you. I would recommend scrolling down a couple of articles and reading Pete Lubrano\u2019s article<\/a> about what to do on a long spot. That may be a better educational source for you at this point in your progression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, if you are reading this already thinking of sacrificing your first born to the head up gods just so you can finally fly head up on the belly without corking out of the jump, then this is the article for you. Hopefully it can help you choose better practices moving forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jake Carlton leading head up in the land of head up: Australia
Photo by Chris Bess<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Why Fly Head Up?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

So, to clear the air, I will put it in print by saying there is value to flying head up as a team in an angle jump. There, I said it. Skydive Mag published it, now it cannot be taken back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Head up allows us to fly through vertical orbits (or eagles) as a team of three or more. In groups smaller than three, you can do 180s (flares and classics) on the top and bottom of the vertical orbit, which allows you to stay head down. The timing of these rotations becomes incredibly challenging when applied to a team setting of three or more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enter the head up angle, which allows us to fly through these moves without rotation, creating a much safer approach and a higher success rate in the dynamic environment created by skydives with vertical orbits added to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that we have established the value, it\u2019s also important to establish the drawbacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Author Jake Carlton
Photo by Chris Bess<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The Movement Problem<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The largest issue that becomes immediately evident is how little ability we have to move across the sky in this orientation, especially in a team setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is that fact in and of itself a problem? Not necessarily. We can plan transitions to head up that allow us to harness the skydives inertia and continue moving across the sky fairly well. Not quite as well as traditional head down (or headfirst) angle flying, but the speeds are still respectable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conversely, we can fly certain transitions that do not even affect the direction of flight despite the feeling that we have stopped and gone the other direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow is that even possible?\u201d you ask. That question is for a different article. In this article, I want to focus specifically on the practices of a head up jump moving into breakoff. So, it is time to get nerdy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jake Carlton leading for the Aussies
Photo by Chris Bess<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The Data<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I have spent the past couple of years collecting data on the horizontal and vertical speeds of angle flying in all orientations. This information is a necessity in the flocking world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I spent more time coaching flocking, I started to realize how woefully ignorant we are in the angle world about how we actually move through the sky. Serendipitously, as I made this realization, a new altimeter brand by the name of Deep and Steep rolled out a GPS altimeter that allowed jumpers to go back and analyze vertical, horizontal, and total speeds. With this new tool, the data aggregation began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without turning this article into an embarrassing display of spreadsheets and graphs, I\u2019ll boil the findings down into something more digestible. All the data I am about to present is averaged from teams flying in organic angle environments. Meaning, the jumps were not designed to maximize speed, but rather to maximize a group\u2019s ability to fly together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also collected data from jumps specifically designed to maximize performance. In the head up orientation, there was not much fluctuation. Head down, on the other hand, showed much larger swings in horizontal speed depending on setup and conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Head Down<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Average Speeds Mid-Skydive<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n