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DY401 Coach
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Dynamic · Mastery · The brief

Dynamic 401

Follow the leader into a carve

Following a leader through a carve, copying everything.

What this unit covers

Covers following, the first dynamic fundamental, taught as a flock and roll into carving. Take the movement jump out the door and off jump run; initiate a left or right turn as for a flock and roll; and keep the formation turning into a carve, close, tight, and on level.
The carve follows a snake pattern and practises the core skill of following the leader: copying what they do. This jump is the basis for future improvisation behind a leader, much like tunnel dynamic flying, which generally starts with carving.
The rest of it
The pattern inside the carve is lead-and-follow, tunnel-style: the leader cuts a line and the follower flies directly behind. Lead-and-follow is the first of the four attack patterns; vertical mirroring and the front attack with pass-by live in FFP-DY402, and the front attack with eagle in FFP-DY403.
All four share one principle, the group attacks the centre: every flyer works to keep the group close and tight, converging on a shared point rather than chasing a tail. A carve is a drive plus a turn.
An in-face carve is flown facing into the centre of the arc, an out-face carve facing out of it, and the mechanics are the same in both facings, at any orientation and speed.
The unit builds on movement-into-vertical flying: the jump still demands a tight movement formation and tight vertical spacing, and now adds the carve. Fly it small: 2–3 flyers is the sweet spot and 4 the practical maximum.
Jumps beyond 6 flyers are the territory of dedicated competition teams that work up to a bigger-way dynamic jump incrementally over many practice jumps, and are outside this unit.
The group plans, briefs and debriefs its jumps in the FAI Dynamic vocabulary (snakes S1–S6, verticals V1–V8, mixers M1–M9, carving), the only officially defined language for this flying (FAI/ISC Dynamic Competition Rules 2025, Annexes A–B).
Applies to flyers competent in the flock and roll (DY 304). Environment: sky.
This style of flying realistically requires substantial dynamic tunnel work, carving both faces, lead-and-follow lines, before it transfers; tunnel time is preparation and calibration only. Supervision: flown behind an experienced dynamic leader, a coach at first, then experienced peers.
The candidate's primary role is follower: following is the fundamental this unit teaches. This is a Mastery-tier unit: there is no sign-off. Completion is a milestone recognising the following fundamental, it is not a permission, and it does not authorise any jump.

What comes before it

Screen 2 · What to watch

What to watch

The same short list the flyer sees on their card, in the same words.

3.3
Fly the carve through the briefed snake pattern directly behind the leader, copying the leader's orientation, line and tempo, tunnel-style lead-and-follow.

Can you fly a carve directly behind the leader, copying their orientation, line and tempo?

3.5
Hold own lane and level through the carve, within a head height of the leader's level, clear of other flyers' burbles, in-face or out-face as briefed.

Can you hold your lane and stay within a head height of the leader’s level, clear of other flyers’ burbles?

3.8 Safety critical
Keep the group's carve inside its own airspace, monitoring the jump run and the straight-down groups throughout, avoiding them is entirely the moving group's responsibility, never theirs.

Do you keep the carve inside its own airspace, watching jump run and the straight-down groups throughout?

Screen 3 · What blocks a sign-off

What blocks a sign-off

A safety-critical criterion marked not yet stops the sign-off, however good the rest of the flying was. There is no averaging across this line, and no trading a good jump against it.

Safety-critical criteria on the short list

3.8
Keep the group's carve inside its own airspace, monitoring the jump run and the straight-down groups throughout, avoiding them is entirely the moving group's responsibility, never theirs.

Do you keep the carve inside its own airspace, watching jump run and the straight-down groups throughout?

Everything this unit says about breakoff and deployment

1.5
State the breakoff plan, breakoff altitude, the back-flyer roll rule, and deployment altitudes, with separation complete at least 1,000 ft above the planned deployment height (a guide: 5,000 ft for freefly groups up to 4-way, noting most modern jumpers use 5,500 ft for any freefly group and will generally not accept 4,500 ft).
4.1
Initiate breakoff at the briefed altitude (within −0/+300 ft), rotating from head-up to a head-first orientation first if the jump ends head-up, then turning onto a clear radial while flattening pitch to a track; never back-track away while still head-up.
4.2
If on the back at breakoff, roll to belly only once on a clear trajectory with no one above.
4.3
Deploy at the planned altitude, inside the group's planned opening airspace, after checking own airspace.

Recording a sign-off says what you saw on one jump. It is not a rating, it is not a permission to jump, and it does not replace anything the drop zone requires.

Screen 4 · Conditions

Conditions

Where the evidence is allowed to come from, and how much of it there needs to be.

Assessment conditions

Sky jumps from a recommended 13,000 ft minimum, carving consumes altitude quickly at angle speeds of roughly 270–400+ km/h.
A real small group, 2–3 flyers, 4 at most, is required for the group criteria; tunnel evidence is preparatory only. Video of assessment jumps is required for a valid assessment: dedicated camera flyer or leader-flown, candidate identifiable.
Required equipment: visual altimeter, functioning audible (two recommended), AAD, freefly-suitable gear with a genuinely tight BOC. Conditions within the group's briefed limits, winds aloft assessed in planning.
Assessor: an experienced dynamic/movement organiser or freefly coach current in mixed-orientation coaching, using the published FFP-DY401 checklist, each criterion marked Satisfactory / Not Yet Satisfactory. Completion is recorded as a Mastery milestone only: it is not a sign-off, confers no privilege, and is not a permission to plan, lead or join any jump.

Performance evidence

Ability evidenced across carving jumps in small groups, 2–3 flyers is the sweet spot, 4 the practical maximum. The evidence should include:
Carves entered from both turn directions (left and right).
Both facings flown (in-face and out-face).
At least two different leaders, partners or camps.
two consecutive jumps flying the full briefed pattern and meeting all criteria without coach assistance or prompts. As a guide to how long this might take, competency is the standard, not the jump count, expect on the order of 8 jumps within a recommended 12-month currency window, more if the tunnel carving is still consolidating. Substantial dynamic tunnel time (carving both faces, carve switches, lead-and-follow lines) is realistically a precondition for this style of flying, and is strongly recommended as vocabulary and calibration development. It substitutes for no sky assessment jump: it exercises no jump run, navigation, altitude or breakoff.

Screen 5 · Debrief

Debrief

Safety first, then fun, then learning. In that order, every time.

Coaching priorities

Deliver in the project's priority order: Safety → Fun → Learning (curriculum Part A0). Safety criteria are non-compensable; at Mastery tier the group still designs the jump to the least experienced participant, and standing down when readiness is not met is itself competent behaviour.
Design the session to be enjoyable, participants choose this expensive hobby, and enjoyment sustains both the flyer and the sport, and end each debrief on a win with one improvement focus. > Watch: Head-down in-face carving (AXIS Flight School), youtube.com/watch?v=A9OppP0N6_c > > Watch: Head-down out-face carving (AXIS Flight School), youtube.com/watch?v=AbVBnLOw1OY

One fault, one correction

Ask for their read before you give yours. Then leave them with one fault and one correction, in their words if you can get them. Six points is six points forgotten by the next load.

A jump marked not yet is a jump to re-fly, not a failure, and saying so out loud is part of the debrief.

Record this jump

Your notes for this unit

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This card is a summary. The full Dynamic 401 unit carries the reasoning, the sources and everything left off here. All briefing cards.