Dynamic 202 — Fly a near-vertical belly angle and transition to back

Application

This unit completes the Dynamic 200 tier: the flyer holds the belly slot on a near-vertical angle through the dive and the pull-out, then transitions belly→back in slot in the second half of the jump as the line flattens out again. The transition serves a plain safety purpose: it is the recovery skill for the belly-flyer-low-without-visual scenario on a flock and roll.

A belly flyer who goes low, classically trapped on the inside or outside of the turn, loses sight of the diving near-vertical group and can float up through it; transitioning to back regains the visual (the project’s coaching doctrine, 2026-08-05 dynamic track redesign).

This unit formalises the track’s bail-out standard: the flyer demonstrates the belly→back transition to the coach here, and every later Dynamic unit relies on it.

The centrepiece and unit assessment is the evaluation jump: exit on belly, follow the leader onto a near-vertical angle through the dive and the pull-out, then transition to back in slot on the briefed key as the line flattens (the project’s coaching doctrine, the pre-dynamic evaluation jump of Part 1, re-founded at near-vertical pitch by the 2026-08-05 redesign).

The belly side of the tier also carries the track’s most important basic-dynamic skill: advanced belly angles at high speed, because the classic cork point on a pass-through is a flyer comfortable on back who transitions to belly at speed and corks (the project’s coaching doctrine, The Freefly Project 2026-07-27).

Completing FFP-DY201 and FFP-DY202 completes the tier: a flyer who can hold both belly and back on a near-vertical jump, with the bail-out standard demonstrated, holds the tier standard. Leadership doctrine for through-vertical jumps lives in FFP-DY303 and FFP-DY304.

Mastery track, no sign-off. Completion of this unit is a milestone, not a permission: it completes the Dynamic 200 tier and admits the flyer to the track’s 300-tier units 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.

No jump in this unit passes through vertical: the group steepens toward vertical and shallows back onto the same line, pulling out the way it came in, and the transition happens in the second half as the line flattens.

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 (belly↔back flips and layouts, belly and back carving) 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 through the dive, the pull-out and the group’s transition. Group size guide: 2–3 plus the coach-leader, and the coach designs every jump around the least experienced flyer (USPA SIM 5-10.E; Spaceland movement policy).

Pre-requisite units

FFP-DY201 (fly a near-vertical back angle), which itself requires FFP-F100 and FFP-AN201 (fly angles in a slot, belly and back assessed separately).

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; FFP-DY201 adds the back slot at near-vertical pitch).
2. Bail-out standard: the belly→back transition demonstrated to the coach before the group’s first jump in this format, taught, demonstrated and verified in this unit (criterion 2.2). Every later Dynamic unit relies on it.
3. 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).
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. The candidate always demonstrates the bail-out standard live to the coach; it is never granted on prior evidence alone.

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; FFP-DY201 for the back side of the tier).

1.3

Present the flight-path plan, line direction off jump run, the dive-and-pull-out profile, the transition point in the second half as the line flattens, and the opening point, relative to other groups on the load. Pitch is the coach-leader's call: steep enough that the flyer feels the speed and pitch a through-vertical pass will demand, 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 (transition to back, turn onto a back angle, and follow the group from below).

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

Demonstrate the belly→back bail-out transition to the coach before the group's first jump in this format, the track's bail-out standard, relied on by every later Dynamic unit.

2.3

Dirt-dive the line with slot allocations, the safe fly zones and no-fly (burble) zones for belly and back flyers on the line (and how they differ from vertical flying's cork-up burble), the transition key and the abort criteria: belly flyers out of slot on the dive = the coach withholds the transition key and the jump completes as a straight near-vertical angle with its pull-out; a scattered group = the leader pulls the group out early onto a shallower line. Brief the uncommanded pass-through: a flyer who fails to match the pull-out and pitches through vertical 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.

2.4

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 evaluation jump

3.1

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

3.2

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

3.3

Clear own airspace visually before every transition, no blind transitions.

3.4

Transition belly→back in slot on the briefed key as the line flattens, driving the formation-side shoulder up and over the body, never dropping a shoulder under, re-establishing level and slot promptly.

3.5

Hold the back slot with continuous visual on the leader for the rest of the line, matching the leader's speed and pitch changes.

3.6

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

3.7

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

3.8

Execute the lost-leader protocol immediately on losing visual contact: transition to back, turn onto a back angle, and follow the group from below.

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 transition on video for slot displacement, level error and shoulder path at the steeper pitch, 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. "DY202 evaluation jump, near-vertical belly angle, transition to back"), 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, the transition key).
• Altitude, separation and closing-speed numeracy.
• Flight-path planning and organising relative to other groups.
• Self-management under stress (bail-out discipline, flying the briefed protocol, not improvising, when the picture degrades).

Performance evidence (suggested sufficiency, adjust locally)

Ability evidenced across at least 4 coached group jumps in the near-vertical belly-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 evaluation jumps meeting all criteria, including two consecutive evaluation jumps meeting all criteria without coach assistance or prompts.
  • Belly slot through the dive and the pull-out, transition to back in slot as the line flattens.
• The bail-out transition demonstrated live to the coach before the group’s first jump in this format (criterion 2.2).
• Across at least two different days/conditions.
• Tunnel time may substitute for up to one of the skill-development jumps (belly↔back flips and layouts, belly and back carving), never for the evaluation 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 the belly-flyer-low-without-visual scenario on a flock and roll: how a belly flyer goes low (classically trapped on the inside or outside of the turn), loses sight of the diving near-vertical group, and can float up through it, and why the belly→back transition is the recovery skill that regains the visual.
• Explain why the bail-out standard is demonstrated live in this unit and why every later Dynamic unit relies on it.
• Explain why advanced belly angles at high speed are the most important basic-dynamic skill: the classic cork point on a pass-through is a flyer comfortable on back who corks on the high-speed transition to belly, and this unit trains exactly that side of the tier.
• Explain over-the-body transition mechanics (drive the formation-side shoulder up and over) and why dropping a shoulder under the body during a transition is dangerous (APF006 §5.11–5.12).
• Explain why a blind transition, rotating without first clearing the airspace you are about to occupy, is the classic collision set-up in group dynamic flying.
• State the lost-leader protocol and the abort criteria, and describe the coach’s response to belly flyers out of slot on the dive (withhold the transition key; the jump completes as a straight angle) and to a scattered group (pull the group out early onto a shallower line).
• Describe the uncommanded pass-through, a flyer who fails to match the pull-out and pitches through vertical, beyond the tier’s standard, 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 mixed-orientation jumps, two are recommended.
• Describe the safe fly zones and no-fly (burble) zones for belly and back flyers on an angle line, and how they differ from vertical flying’s cork-up burble (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 course-internal safety standards, where each is taught or verified across the track, and the weakest-orientation-first rationale: the first pass-through at FFP-DY303 starts on the weaker side, usually belly.
  • Both-orientation at FFP-AN201/FFP-DY201; the bail-out standard here; the through-vertical standard from FFP-DY303 onward.
• State the tier-completion standard: a flyer who can hold both belly and back on a near-vertical jump, with the bail-out standard demonstrated, holds the tier standard.
• 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, level or shoulder-path fault through a transition at near-vertical speed.

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 (two recommended for mixed-orientation work), AAD recommended, freefly-suitable gear. Conditions within the candidate’s cleared limits, with calm-to-mild upper winds recommended for evaluation 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-DY202 checklist, each criterion marked Satisfactory / Not Yet Satisfactory, unit judgement Competent / Not Yet Competent. The judgement is course-internal: it completes the Dynamic 200 tier 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 belly-flyer-low scenario before the first jump, so the flyer knows the reason for the bail-out standard they are demonstrating, and explains weakest-orientation-first up front as a safety decision.

The coach 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 evaluation jump as the completion of the tier and the door into through-vertical 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 both belly and back orientations.
• Tunnel records of belly↔back flips or layouts, and belly and back carving.
• A video portfolio showing in-slot belly flying on a steep angle and an in-line belly→back transition on a real jump (candidate identifiable).
• Plus one challenge jump: the evaluation jump flown against the full Element 3–4 criteria with a coach-leader.

The candidate always demonstrates the bail-out standard (criterion 2.2) live to the coach; prior evidence alone never satisfies it.

Sources