Dynamic 201 — Fly a near-vertical back angle

Application

This is the Dynamic track’s entry unit, and it opens a 200 tier whose purpose is to build toward transitions through vertical, the pass-through and the flock and roll, by stress-testing each flyer at near-vertical speed and pitch while pulling out the way you came in, which minimises risk.

The tier’s shared jump format: the group steepens toward vertical and shallows back onto the same line, never passing through vertical, so each flyer meets the speed and pitch a real pass will demand while the highest-risk element, the pass itself, stays out of the jump until FFP-DY303.

This unit covers the back side of the tier standard: holding the back slot on a very steep, near-vertical angle through the dive and the pull-out, relative to a coach-leader and a small group. FFP-DY202 covers the belly side and the bail-out standard (the belly→back transition check); completing both completes the tier (the project’s coaching doctrine, 2026-08-05 dynamic track redesign).

Leadership doctrine for through-vertical jumps lives in FFP-DY303 and FFP-DY304.

How dynamic relates to vertical and movement. Dynamic blurs the line between vertical and movement flying, the more advanced the jump, the closer it sits to pure vertical. A basic pass-through (the group dives through vertical and returns the way it came) covers less than half the horizontal distance of a straight angle, because part of the jump is spent purely vertical. A double pass-through covers less than a third.

By four or five pass-throughs the jump approaches a purely vertical column of air, eagle and layout territory.

The key skills for basic dynamic jumps are therefore HD-crest-level vertical flying and belly and back angles, with advanced belly angles at high speed the most important, because that is the classic cork point on a pass-through: flyers start on their back where they are comfortable, transition to belly at speed, and cork (the project’s coaching doctrine, The Freefly Project 2026-07-27).

This unit’s format takes the straight angle to the near-vertical end of that spectrum: the dive approaches purely vertical flight and the pull-out returns along the entry line, building the speed-and-pitch tolerance the pass-through will demand.

Mastery track, no sign-off. Completion of this unit is a milestone, not a permission: it admits the flyer to FFP-DY202 and to jumps of this format within this curriculum, and nothing more. The unit’s entry standards are course-internal safety standards, prerequisites to participate in these jumps, not jump permissions, licences, crests or endorsements of any kind.

Any drop zone may adopt them as local policy; this curriculum only recommends them.

Applies to flyers competent in an angle slot on both belly and back (FFP-AN201).

No jump in this unit passes through vertical, so the track’s through-vertical standard, head-down competence at crest standard for every participant, because everyone on a through-vertical jump is momentarily flying head-down, applies from FFP-DY303 onward, where it is verified (the project’s coaching doctrine, standard scope clarified by The Freefly Project 2026-07-26).

Environment: sky, with tunnel drills (back carving, back-fly fall-rate range) as preparation.

Supervision: the coach leads a 2–3-way from the belly, dynamic jumps are led on belly, and the belly leader holds full ground visual while the group flies the back slots. Group size guide: 2–3 plus the coach-leader, growing up the dynamic group-size ladder, 2-way, then 3-way, then 4-way; over 6 is dedicated-team territory, and the coach designs every jump around the least experienced flyer (USPA SIM 5-10.E; Spaceland movement policy).

Pre-requisite units

FFP-F100 (establish freefly foundations), FFP-AN203 (fly angles in a back-fly slot). FFP-AN201 (the belly slot) is recommended alongside it but is not the prerequisite here: this unit is flown on the back, so the back-fly slot is what it builds on.

Course-internal safety standards (participation prerequisites for Dynamic-track jumps, not jump permissions; state this distinction in every briefing):

1. Both-orientation standard: demonstrated competence in belly and back flying (FFP-AN201 assesses both).
2. Weakest-orientation-first: the coach evaluates the candidate in both orientations and concentrates development in the weaker, usually belly, since most intermediate–advanced flyers are more comfortable on their back. The same evaluation sets the starting orientation for the first pass-through at FFP-DY303 (the project’s coaching doctrine).
3. Bail-out standard: the belly→back transition demonstrated to the coach, taught and verified at FFP-DY202, before any through-vertical jump.
4. Through-vertical standard: head-down competence at crest standard, FFP-HD202 or national equivalent (e.g. the Australian the head-down crest), recommended for all participants on any jump that transitions through vertical: everyone on such a jump is momentarily flying head-down. Verified from FFP-DY303 onward; no jump in this unit passes through vertical.

RPL route: see the RPL evidence set below.

Elements and performance criteria

1. Plan the jump

1.1

State the jump's single declared objective and success criteria.

1.2

Verify every participant's standard status against the jump's content (both-orientation standard; back-slot competence at FFP-AN201 standard).

1.3

Present the flight-path plan, line direction off jump run, the dive-and-pull-out profile (steepen toward vertical, shallow back onto the same line), and the opening point, relative to other groups on the load. Pitch is the coach-leader's call: steep enough that the flyer feels near-vertical speed and pitch, while the group always pulls out the way it came in and never passes through vertical.

1.4

State breakoff (guide: 5,000 ft for groups up to a 4-way, 5,500 ft for a 5-way or larger; set at least 1,000 ft above the highest planned deployment) and deployment altitudes, and the lost-leader protocol for a back flyer, split by position, already below the group: stay on back, shallow onto a following back angle, and follow the group from below; level with or above the group: hold the shallow back angle, never descend to chase, and deploy higher after checking above.

2. Prepare

2.1

Complete a freefly-specific gear check on self and group (handles, BOC, riser covers, closing loop, helmet, audible set and functioning).

2.2

Dirt-dive the profile with slot allocations, the safe fly zones and no-fly (burble) zones for back flyers on the line, the dive and pull-out keys, and the abort criteria: flyers out of slot as the group steepens = the leader caps the dive and shallows the group back onto the line early; a scattered group = the leader pulls the group out and the jump completes as a shallower straight angle. Brief the uncommanded pass-through: a flyer who fails to match the pull-out and pitches through vertical, from the back slot emerging toward belly at speed, the track's classic cork point, completes the rotation to a stable orientation, holds the line's heading low and follows the group from below; the group holds the shallow line, and nobody chases.

2.3

Confirm exit order and separation with the load, including any other movement groups (guide: two movement groups per load; a possible exception is a very experienced dynamic group flying a mostly-vertical plan).

3. Perform, the near-vertical back angle

3.1

Exit and establish the assigned back slot before the leader sets the angle.

3.2

Hold the back slot with continuous visual on the leader as the group steepens toward vertical, staying on level and in slot through the dive. The coach judges slot competence as a whole, approaching from within your quadrant and holding position, rather than against a measured distance.

3.3

Hold the back slot through the pull-out as the group shallows back onto the entry line, matching the leader's pitch and speed changes.

3.4

Regulate closing speed on every approach so as never to pass the leader; if overtaking, slow and hold position.

3.5

Recover in slot from any instability, never track away from the group.

3.6

Execute the lost-leader protocol immediately on losing visual contact, already below the group: stay on back, shallow onto a following back angle, and follow the group from below; level with or above the group: hold the shallow back angle, never descend to chase, and deploy higher after checking above.

4. Complete

4.1

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

4.2

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

4.3

Fan out on the briefed peel-off arc, flattening pitch to a track while checking airspace, never turning in place.

4.4

Deploy at the planned altitude after clearing airspace.

4.5

Fly the briefed canopy plan, not crossing back toward the jump-run line until the airspace is confirmed clear.

5. Review

5.1

Debrief against the declared objective using video.

5.2

Analyse own dive and pull-out on video for slot displacement and level error through the pitch changes, identifying one correction for the next jump.

5.3

Write the jump up in the logbook with reflections naming the unit and skills assessed (e.g. "DY201 near-vertical back angle"), criteria results and current standing against the entry standards, the curriculum gives log entries meaning.

Bold criteria are safety-critical: non-compensable within this course’s assessment, any Not Yet Satisfactory makes the unit Not Yet Competent, however good the rest of the flying. They are strongly recommended best-practice standards: risk treatments with stated reasons. Regulation remains your federation’s and your drop zone’s.

Foundation skills

• Briefing and debriefing communication (entry-standard conversations, abort calls, keys).
• Altitude, separation and closing-speed numeracy.
• Flight-path planning and organising relative to other groups.
• Self-management under stress (holding slot discipline as speed and pitch build toward vertical).

Performance evidence (suggested sufficiency, adjust locally)

Ability evidenced across at least 4 coached group jumps in the near-vertical back-angle format. The jump counts are a guide to how long this typically takes, not a quota, competency is the standard, not the numbers:

• At least 2 jumps flying the full dive-and-pull-out profile in the back slot meeting all criteria, including two consecutive jumps meeting all criteria without coach assistance or prompts.
• Across at least two different days/conditions.
• Tunnel time may substitute for up to one of the skill-development jumps (back carving, back-fly fall-rate range), never for the assessment-format jumps.
• All within a recommended 6-month currency window.

Knowledge evidence

• Explain the 200 tier’s design: the group steepens toward vertical and shallows back onto the same line, pulling out the way it came in, each flyer meets near-vertical speed and pitch while the pass itself waits until FFP-DY303, and why that sequencing minimises risk.
• Explain how transition count changes a dynamic jump’s footprint: a single pass-through covers less than half a straight angle’s horizontal distance.
  • A double pass-through less than a third.
  • 4–5 pass-throughs approach a purely vertical column, eagle/layout territory.
• Explain why advanced belly angles at high speed are the most important basic-dynamic skill, the classic cork point is a flyer comfortable on back who corks on the high-speed transition to belly, and where the track trains that side (FFP-DY202).
• State the course-internal safety standards and where each is taught or verified, and explain weakest-orientation-first as a safety decision: the first pass-through at FFP-DY303 starts on the weaker side, usually belly.
  • Both-orientation here and at FFP-AN201; the bail-out standard at FFP-DY202; the through-vertical standard from FFP-DY303 onward.
• State the lost-leader protocol for a back flyer and why position picks the branch, following from below only works from below the group, and a level or high flyer who shallows ends above the diving group with eyes at the sky.
  • Already below: stay on back, shallow onto a following back angle, follow the group from below.
  • Level or high: hold the shallow back angle, never descend to chase, deploy higher after checking above.
• State the abort criteria and describe the leader’s response to flyers out of slot on the dive (cap the dive, shallow the group back onto the line early) and to a scattered group (pull the group out; the jump completes as a shallower straight angle).
• Describe the uncommanded pass-through, a flyer who fails to match the pull-out and pitches through vertical, from the back slot emerging toward belly at speed, the track’s classic cork point, and the briefed response: the over-pitched flyer completes the rotation to a stable orientation, holds the line’s heading low and follows the group from below, while the group holds the shallow line and nobody chases.
• State the breakoff and deployment altitude guides for Dynamic-track jumps, noting that most modern jumpers use 5,500 ft for any freefly group and will generally not accept 4,500 ft (the project’s coaching doctrine, 2026-07-27; cf. APF006 §3.3).
  • 5,000 ft for groups up to a 4-way; 5,500 ft for a 5-way or larger; breakoff set at least 1,000 ft above the highest planned deployment.
• Describe the freefly-specific gear check (per FFP-F100) and why a functioning audible matters on steep high-speed jumps, two are recommended.
• Describe the safe fly zones and no-fly (burble) zones for back flyers on an angle line (APF006 §5.13).
• Explain why the response to instability on a movement jump is to recover in slot, never to track away from the group (APF006 §4.3).
• Explain why a back-flyer at breakoff must not roll to belly until on a clear trajectory with no one above (USPA SIM 5-10.E).
• State the group-planning guides: movement groups per load, the jump designed around the least experienced flyer, the dynamic group-size ladder (2-way, then 3-way, then 4-way; over 6 is dedicated-team territory), and the transition-count difficulty scale (0 / 1–3 / 4+, USPA SIM 5-10).
  • 2 as the guide, with a very experienced mostly-vertical dynamic group as the one possible exception.
• Explain the distinction between this unit’s course-internal safety standards and a jump permission or regulatory sign-off.
• Analyse own video to diagnose a slot-displacement or level fault through the pitch changes of the dive and pull-out.

Assessment conditions

Sky jumps from a recommended 10,000 ft minimum exit (APF006 §3.2), with a real group of 2–3 plus the coach-leader.

Video of assessment jumps is required for a valid assessment (leader-, outside- or helmet-mounted; candidate identifiable). Required equipment: visual altimeter, functioning audible, AAD recommended, freefly-suitable gear. Conditions within the candidate’s cleared limits, with calm-to-mild upper winds recommended for assessment jumps.

Assessor: a freefly coach current in both angle and vertical coaching and approved to lead movement jumps at the host drop zone, using the published FFP-DY201 checklist, each criterion marked Satisfactory / Not Yet Satisfactory, unit judgement Competent / Not Yet Competent.

The judgement is course-internal: it admits the candidate to FFP-DY202 and to jumps of this format within this curriculum and confers no licence, crest, endorsement or jump permission.

Coaching priorities

Deliver in the project’s priority order: Safety → Fun → Learning (curriculum Part A0). Safety criteria are non-compensable, and the coach holds the entry-standard conversation openly before money is spent.

The coach explains the tier’s design up front as a safety decision, pull out the way you came in, so the flyer meets near-vertical speed and pitch before any jump passes through vertical, and offers a candidate below the entry standards the belly/back angle development path instead, never just a “no”. End each debrief on a win with one improvement focus, and frame the dive-and-pull-out as the door into dynamic flying.

RPL evidence set

For experienced entrants, the following alternative evidence is suggested as satisfying the same criteria:

• Logbook evidence of steep angle/movement jumps flown in the back slot.
• Tunnel records of back carving and back-fly fall-rate control.
• A video portfolio showing in-slot back flying on a steep angle on a real jump (candidate identifiable).
• Plus one challenge jump: the near-vertical back angle flown against the full Element 3–4 criteria with a coach-leader.

Sources