Dynamic 402 — Mirror the leader

Application

Covers mirroring, the second dynamic fundamental: flying side by side or in a line, passing by each other, or flying in a line facing each other. Where FFP-DY401 trains the follower behind a leader, this unit trains flyers holding each other in reference, matching moves across a gap, through passes and facing formations.

The suggested format is a 3-way: one flyer on belly (the coach) and two on back.

The unit’s suggested dive flow, each phase briefed and flown in order: the leader takes an angle off the door and establishes safe navigation. The leader keys a transition to belly, the belly flyer performs a backflip while the back flyers transition over the feet, and the group joins on belly in an open accordion. The leader initiates and all move to a stand.

The group drives forward past each other, mirroring each other, holding sight of each other through the pass, then transitions into a head-down carve. The carve stops in a round; the group forms an open accordion; and the leader pushes through the formation with a transition to head-up through the belly, with the followers copying, so the group finishes facing each other in head-up.

The jump can be varied with any formation in which flyers face each other. The flow holds inside a contained footprint, tunnel-in-the-sky flying, and the leader owns navigation and the opening point throughout, checking landmarks at each named phase key.

Two terms of dynamic flying language carry this unit: a push-through is a leader’s transition to head-up through the belly, pushing through the formation, with the followers copying; an over-the-feet transition is the back flyer’s transition to belly.

A push-through is a deliberate transit through occupied airspace, so it carries a traffic rule: the formation holds position and level, the transiting flyer owns clearance and lateral spacing, and followers copy one at a time on the leader’s completion.

Two of the four attack patterns live here. Vertical mirroring, flyers side by side; the leader initiates a vertical manoeuvre (a layout or a stall) and the second mirrors it.

Front attack with pass-by, flyers converge offset, pass each other, then mirror a transition (through back or belly) to finish face-to-face, generally flowing into a carve; the vertical move can also be a stall, creating a second pass-by or stalling into a line. The suggested flow’s stand pass is the pass-by inside a full dive flow.

The jump ends head-up, and the breakoff carries the head-up doctrine: the floor rises to 6,000 ft minimum (6,500 ft for a larger group, the FFP head-up standard applied in FFP-AN301), and each flyer rotates to a head-first orientation before tracking the fan-out radial.

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 following (DY 401).

Environment: sky. This style of flying realistically requires substantial dynamic tunnel work, layouts, stalls, carving in both orientations, transitions through belly and back, before it transfers; tunnel time is preparation and calibration only.

Supervision: flown with an experienced dynamic group; in the suggested format the coach flies the belly slot and leads.

This is a Mastery-tier unit: there is no sign-off. Completion is a milestone recognising the mirroring fundamental, it is not a permission, and it does not authorise any jump.

Pre-requisite units

FFP-DY401 (following, the flock and roll into carving). RPL route for the pre-requisite: logbook plus video of carving jumps behind a leader at DY 401 standard verified by a freefly coach, plus tunnel records evidencing dynamic carving and lead-and-follow lines.

Elements and performance criteria

1. Plan the jump

1.1

Design the dive flow phase by phase in the shared FAI Dynamic vocabulary, the angle off the door, the keyed transition to belly, the open accordion, the stand and the pass, the head-down carve to a round, the second accordion, and the closing push-through, so every participant briefs from one language.

1.2

Verify every participant's standard status against the track's course-internal safety standards: head-down competence at crest standard for all participants, both orientations, and the FFP-DY202 transition check.

1.3

Match the format and the flow to the least experienced participant (the suggested format is a 3-way with one flyer on belly, the coach, and two on back; 2–3 flyers is the guide, 4 the practical maximum).

1.4

Plan the flight path off the jump run as a contained footprint, tunnel-in-the-sky flying, with the leader owning navigation and the opening point and a landmark check named at each phase key, coordinated with every other group on the load (a guide: no more than two movement groups per load).

1.5

State the breakoff plan, the jump ends head-up, so the breakoff floor rises to 6,000 ft minimum (6,500 ft for a larger group, the FFP head-up standard applied in FFP-AN301); each flyer rotates to a head-first orientation (head-down or belly) before tracking the assigned fan-out radial; deployment altitudes stated, with separation complete at least 1,000 ft above the planned deployment height.

2. Prepare

2.1

Brief and dirt-dive the flow at tempo in the shared vocabulary, confirming each phase's key or initiation, each flyer's slot, and the mirroring roles through the pass.

2.2

Complete a freefly-specific gear check: handle and pin protection, genuinely tight BOC, riser covers, closing loop, helmet, AAD on, audible(s) set to the briefed altitudes.

2.3

Confirm exit order and separation with the full load, notifying manifest of the group's flight path and planned opening area.

3. Perform

3.1

Establish the angle off the door in the briefed slot while the leader establishes safe navigation off jump run.

3.2

Transition to belly on the leader's key, the belly flyer through a backflip, the back flyers over the feet, joining the group on belly in an open accordion, on level.

3.3

Move to a stand on the leader's initiation, driving forward past each other and mirroring each other's speed and line through the pass.

3.4

Hold visual contact with the crossing flyers throughout the pass; on losing sight mid-pass, hold the briefed line and level and fly the pass through, never turning into the crossing lane, then re-acquire visual or separate per the brief.

3.5

Transition into the head-down carve out of the pass, finishing face-to-face and flying the carve close, tight and on level to its stop.

3.6

Stop the carve in a round, re-forming the open accordion and holding level and proximity.

3.7

Copy the leader's push-through, the transition to head-up through the belly, pushed through the formation, so the group finishes facing each other in head-up.

3.8

Fly the push-through under its traffic rule: the formation holds position and level, the transiting flyer owns clearance with the briefed minimum lateral spacing held through the transit, and followers copy sequentially, one flyer in transit at a time, on the leader's completion.

3.9

Mirror the leader's initiated vertical manoeuvre, a layout or a stall, side by side, holding level and separation through the manoeuvre.

3.10

Clear the target airspace visually before every transition and pass, no blind moves.

3.11

Manage speed and pitch to arrest closure on the group, slowing on any overtake, never turning 180° to the group's heading.

3.12

Keep the group 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.

3.13

Execute the briefed recovery on any instability: orient with the group, regain speed and rejoin, never track away; if separated from the group, transition to back and follow from below.

4. Complete

4.1

Initiate breakoff at the briefed altitude (within −0/+300 ft) by rotating from head-up to a head-first orientation, head-down or belly, then tracking the assigned fan-out radial away from the group; never back-track away while still head-up.

4.2

Wash off vertical speed and roll to belly only 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.

4.4

Fly the briefed canopy plan, holding off the jump-run line until other groups' airspace is confirmed clear.

5. Review

5.1

Debrief the flow phase by phase against the plan on video, in the shared vocabulary.

5.2

Analyse own execution against the competition-derived quality criteria: closeness of passes, synchronisation, uniformity of body position, no loss of balance.

5.3

Design the next jump's variation, any formation in which flyers face each other, from the debrief's findings.

5.4

Log the jump in the logbook naming the unit and skills flown (e.g. "DY402, stand pass and push-through"), with criteria results and a short reflection, the curriculum is what makes the log entry meaningful.

Bold criteria are safety-critical. Within FFP courses they are treated as non-compensable best-practice standards: any Not Yet Satisfactory makes the unit Not Yet Competent. Outside a course they remain strongly recommended best practice. Regulation remains your federation’s and your drop zone’s.

Foundation skills

• Shared-vocabulary communication (briefing a multi-phase flow across coaches, tunnels and countries).
• Altitude, closing-speed and level numeracy.
• Planning and organising (flow design, load coordination).
• Teamwork and mutual monitoring through passes and facing formations.
• Self-management while task-loaded (the flying runs on automatic skill while attention is on traffic, navigation and the group, and standing down when readiness is not met).

Performance evidence (suggested sufficiency, adjust locally)

Ability evidenced across mirroring jumps in small groups, 2–3 flyers is the sweet spot, 4 the practical maximum. The evidence should include:

• The full suggested flow, every phase flown.
• At least one variation using a different formation in which flyers face each other.
• Both patterns carried by this unit, the front attack with pass-by and vertical mirroring.
• At least two different partners, camps or organisers.
• two consecutive jumps flying every briefed phase 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 10 jumps within a recommended 12-month currency window, more if the tunnel transitions are still consolidating.

Substantial dynamic tunnel time (front and back layouts, vertical stalls, carving in both orientations, transitions through belly and back) 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.

Knowledge evidence

• Describe mirroring’s three shapes, side by side or in a line, passing by each other, or in a line facing each other, and how any formation in which flyers face each other varies the jump.
• Walk through the suggested dive flow phase by phase, naming the leader’s key or initiation for each phase and the transition each flyer flies: the backflip and the over-the-feet transitions to belly, the move to a stand, the pass, the head-down carve to a round, the open accordion, and the closing push-through.
• State the navigation model: the flow holds inside a contained footprint, tunnel-in-the-sky flying, and the leader owns navigation and the opening point throughout, checking landmarks at each named phase key.
  • The flow’s later phases have no belly flyer, so the leader briefs each landmark check onto a phase key.
• Define the unit’s dynamic flying language: a push-through is a leader’s transition to head-up through the belly, pushing through the formation, with the followers copying.
  • An over-the-feet transition is the back flyer’s transition to belly.
• Explain the push-through’s traffic rule and its reason: the transiting flyer crosses occupied airspace while decelerating through the belly moment, so the formation holds position and level, the transiting flyer owns clearance with the briefed minimum lateral spacing, and followers copy sequentially, one flyer in transit at a time, on the leader’s completion.
• Explain the two patterns housed in this unit and the decision inside each: vertical mirroring (the leader initiates a layout or a stall; the second mirrors it) and the front attack with pass-by.
  • Converge offset, pass, then mirror a transition through back or belly to finish face-to-face, generally flowing into a carve; the vertical move can also be a stall, creating a second pass-by or stalling into a line.
• Explain why visual contact holds through a converging pass: a crossing flyer out of sight is the classic collision set-up, and the leader briefs the pass so no phase demands looking away.
  • State the response to losing sight mid-pass: hold the briefed line and level and fly the pass through, never turning into the crossing lane, then re-acquire visual or separate per the brief.
• State the breakoff design for a jump ending head-up: the floor rises to 6,000 ft minimum (6,500 ft for a larger group), the FFP head-up standard FFP-AN301 applies to head-up movement work.
  • Each flyer rotates to a head-first orientation, head-down or belly, before tracking the fan-out radial, because head-up breakoff is demonstrably less efficient, less power, less track efficiency, and altitude lost rotating (Carlton), and a formation back-tracking from face-in slots converges rather than separates (the project’s coaching doctrine, The Freefly Project round-4b, 2026-07-28).
  • State the back-flyer roll rule (roll to belly only on a clear trajectory with no one above), the deployment altitudes, and the at-least-1,000-ft separation-above-deployment guide.
• Explain why dynamic groups stay small: 2–3 is best, 4 the practical maximum, and beyond 6 is the territory of dedicated competition teams working up incrementally over many practice jumps.
• Explain corking’s speed differential (roughly 175→120 mph) and why the traffic rules exist: no blind moves.
  • Closure managed by slowing, never by turning 180° to the group’s heading.
  • And in-slot recovery, never track away, and if lost, back-fly and follow from below.
• Describe the freefly-specific gear check and why each item matters at dynamic speeds.
• Explain the burble contrast between the flow’s vertical and movement phases, vertical flyers cork up along a burble while tracking/angle no-fly zones trail the formation, and locate the danger zones for a jump that alternates both, stating why avoiding the straight-down groups rests entirely with the moving group.
• Analyse own video against the competition-derived execution criteria: pass closeness, synchronisation, uniformity of body position, no loss of balance.
• Classify the flow’s moves using the FAI Annex B taxonomy (orientations, rotations, pathways) and brief them in the shared vocabulary.
• Evaluate where a planned dynamic descent sits within local rules (freefly crests vs movement-jump endorsements) and who resolves the ambiguity.

Assessment conditions

Sky jumps from a recommended 13,000 ft minimum, the multi-phase flow consumes the full working time at angle and vertical speeds. A real small group, the suggested 3-way with the coach on belly; 4 flyers 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-DY402 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.

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.

RPL evidence set

• Logbook plus video of mirroring jumps, passes, mirrored transitions and a push-through, verified by a freefly coach.
• Tunnel records evidencing layouts, stalls and carving in both orientations (per third-party summaries; verify against IBA source material where IBA levels are cited).
• Competition evidence, indoor Dynamic 2-way/4-way or MFS results, as supporting (not substituting) evidence for the sky criteria.
• Or a challenge assessment across a suggested 2 jumps against the full criteria with a qualifying assessor.

Sources