Angles 203 — Fly angles in a back-fly slot

Application

Covers flying a back-fly follower slot in a 2–3-way angle (movement) jump behind a trained leader: slot geometry below and behind the leader’s line, holding the slot through the leader’s speed and pitch changes, the roll back to belly, and clearing airspace from the back.

Back-flying in an angle group is strictly a follower skill flown in slot. Angle groups are never led from the back, the leader flies belly-to-earth on every jump. Navigation and ground reference come from the belly, and a back-flying “leader” cannot reliably see where the group is going.

Recommended order: the belly slot (FFP-AN201) first. It is a recommendation and not a gate: some flyers arrive from a discipline that made them comfortable on their back first, and the two streams are assessed independently. A Satisfactory belly stream does not credit this one, and this one does not credit the belly stream.

Everything about planning, gear, exit order, heading discipline, the left-behind protocol, in-slot recovery and breakoff is as stated in FFP-AN201 and unchanged. The safety-critical criteria are restated here in full rather than referenced, so a flyer briefing this unit alone still reads the numbers.

Environment: sky, with tunnel back carving as preparation.

Pre-requisite units

FFP-F100, FFP-AN101. FFP-AN201 is recommended first but is not a prerequisite, because the two orientations are assessed as independent streams. RPL route: logbook plus footage of coached back-fly slot flying behind a trained leader with heading and level control, or a challenge assessment of two jumps against the criteria below.

Elements and performance criteria

1. Plan the jump

1.1

State the jump's single declared objective and success criteria for the back-fly stream.

1.2

Honestly represent own currency and back-fly competence to the leader, and confirm the planned angle and speed are set to the least experienced flyer (flat and fast by default).

1.3

Restate the leader's briefed plan before boarding: jump run direction, the flight path and own slot and quadrant, plan B, and the left-behind protocol.

1.4

State the breakoff and deployment altitudes and the lost-flyer plan: breakoff guide 5,000 ft for groups up to 4-way, 5,500 ft for 5 and larger (most modern jumpers plan 5,500 ft for movement jumps of any size), separating at least 1,000 ft above planned deployment. Movement-jump separation is designed on the ground, not improvised in the air.

2. Prepare

2.1

Complete a movement-jump gear check on self and cross-check the group: hand-deploy BOC or pull-out, bridle fully covered, tight riser covers and closing loop, secure handles and clothing, helmet, audible set and functioning. Audibles fail silently, and an angle breakoff depends on hearing yours.

2.2

Walk the dive with the group, including the breakoff fan with eye contact between neighbouring flyers.

2.3

Confirm exit order with the load and identify any other movement groups and their declared directions.

3. Perform

3.1

Exit head-first into the relative wind, establish the back-fly orientation, and accelerate off the hill to the group's speed without braking early.

3.2

Fly to the assigned quadrant first and get on level, then close the distance; never approach from below and behind through the burble.

3.3

Close in stages, aiming ahead of the formation (never at it), halving the distance and re-setting speed and angle each time, flying no faster than you can think.

3.4

Hold the back-fly slot below and slightly behind the leader's line with a lateral offset, never letting the legs pass the leader's head, keeping visual on the leader throughout.

3.5

Hold that slot at docking distance for at least 10 seconds, on the group's heading within ±45°.

3.6

Follow the leader through briefed speed and pitch changes, re-establishing level and slot from the back.

3.7

Keep the body pointed on the group's heading at all times when displaced, side-slide to close, turn with the group if it turns toward you, and never turn 180° from the group's heading or back toward the jump run, because off-heading collisions are the collisions that kill.

3.8

If left behind, keep flying the group's heading and closing correctly; stop closing by ~7,000–7,500 ft, hold the distance, and break off on the group's timing, not its altitude, because the classic pull-time collision is a trailing flyer still closing while the group slows to deploy.

3.9

Execute in-slot recovery immediately on any instability: keep speed on the group's direction and angle, never ball up, never track away; re-approach only when stable, and if separation persists, follow the group at a distance until breakoff.

3.10

Transition between the back-fly and belly slots on the briefed key, remaining on level and in slot through the change.

4. Complete

4.1

Initiate breakoff at the briefed altitude (−0/+300 ft as a working guide).

4.2

Look before turning, then fan away from the centre line in the briefed order, turning flat from the hips, no more than ~90° off the group's heading, never turning in place and never toward the jump run, always assuming somebody is exactly where you are about to go.

4.3

Roll from back to belly only once established on a clear trajectory with no one above.

4.4

Accelerate flat to build separation, then flatten and decelerate progressively before deployment.

4.5

Visually clear airspace in all directions before deploying at the planned altitude, never treating the deployment itself as clearing airspace: pulling dumps fabric into the airspace, it does not clear it.

4.6

After opening, hold position and heading until the other groups' canopies are seen open before flying toward the jump run.

5. Review

5.1

Debrief against the declared objective using the available footage, talking the coach through own heading, level, slot and altitude decisions.

5.2

Identify one fault and its correction for the next jump, and log the jump with criteria results against the back-fly stream.

Bold criteria are safety-critical: non-compensable, any Not Yet Satisfactory on one of them makes the unit Not Yet Competent, however good the rest of the flying.

Foundation skills

• Back-fly as a piloted orientation (FFP-F101) carried onto an angle.
• Spatial awareness while looking up at the group rather than down at it.
• Altitude, speed and separation numeracy.
• Self-management under stress, holding heading and discipline while left behind, and in-slot recovery instead of flight.

Performance evidence (suggested sufficiency, a guide to how long it might take, adjust locally)

Ability evidenced across around 4 coached 2–3-way angle jumps behind a trained/approved leader, flown in the back-fly slot, matching the back-fly half of the evidence FFP-AN201 previously carried across both streams.

The evidence should also include:

• at least two different days/conditions.
• at least 2 consecutive jumps meeting all criteria without coach assistance.
• All within a recommended 6-month currency window.

Tunnel back carving may inform and substitute for up to two skill-development jumps, not the assessment jumps. No jump in this unit is flown without a trained/approved leader flying belly-to-earth in the lead slot.

Knowledge evidence

At this tier the candidate is asked to state, describe and explain:

• Burble geometry from the back: explain why the back-fly slot sits below and slightly behind with a lateral offset, that the burble trails up-and-back, and that flatter angles enlarge it.
• Clearing airspace from the back: explain how airspace is cleared before deployment from a back-fly orientation, and why pulling does not clear airspace.
• The roll: explain why the roll from back to belly waits for a clear trajectory with nobody above.
• Why the back is never the lead: explain why angle groups are only ever led from the belly, and that a back-flying flyer cannot reliably see where the group is going.
• Breakoff guides: state the guides for movement jumps, 5,000 ft up to 4-way, 5,500 ft for 5 and larger, and the principle of separating at least 1,000 ft above planned deployment.
• Left behind and in-slot recovery: explain both doctrines as stated in FFP-AN201.

Assessment conditions

Sky jumps from a recommended 10,000 ft minimum. Group size 2–3 including the assessor/leader, who flies belly-to-earth in the lead slot on every jump. Conditions within the candidate’s cleared limits, with upper winds and any other movement groups on the load briefed. Footage of assessment jumps from any workable source, candidate identifiable, supported by the candidate talking the assessor through their decisions.

Assessor: a freefly coach current in angles coaching.

Coaching priorities

Deliver in the project’s priority order: Safety → Fun → Learning. Hold bold safety criteria to the standard above. Back-fly slot work is where a flyer first has the group above and behind them rather than in front, and the common failure is drifting up into the leader’s line; coach the offset before the proximity. End debriefs on a win with one improvement focus.

RPL evidence set

Logbook showing coached angle jumps flown in the back-fly slot behind a trained leader; video showing slot, level, heading and the roll to belly; or a challenge assessment of two jumps against the full criteria with a qualifying assessor.

Sources