Dynamic 201 — Fly mixed orientations in a group

Application

Covers flying belly and back orientations relative to a coach-leader and a small group on a steep, straight angle line, including in-line transitions between orientations while holding slot, the Dynamic track’s entry unit and its course-internal safety gate.

The centrepiece and unit assessment is the pre-dynamic evaluation jump: exit on belly, follow the leader onto a reasonably steep but straight angle, then transition to back while staying in slot (the project’s coaching doctrine).

This jump is the recommended risk treatment for the key hazard of dynamic pass-throughs: a low belly flyer bombing through the entire diving formation, classically arising on a flock-and-roll when a belly flyer is trapped on the inside or outside of the turn.

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).

Leadership doctrine, dynamic jumps are led on belly only. Navigation demands full ground visual from a stable platform, so a non-training pass-through jump needs two approved leaders (a training exception for coached jumps is stated below).

Leader one takes the group off jump run and flies the first segment on belly with full visual of the ground; as the pass-through occurs, leadership hands over to their opposite number, now the new belly flyer, who pulls the group up to the new line (the back flyers have plenty of power to come up to it).

This is far safer and far tighter than a transitioning leader trying to push a belly flyer in front of them, who is in a dynamically unstable, twitchy flight position. At the next pass-through, leadership naturally returns to the original leader.

The principle every participant briefs and flies to: the middle person on belly is always leading, a tighter, simpler, safer jump with much less chance of disorientation, because no navigation time is lost in transition: as the pass-through occurs, the emerging belly flyer is exposed to the new sight picture and naturally starts navigating (the project’s coaching doctrine; also captured in the project’s coaching doctrine).

Leadership edge cases every participant briefs (the project’s coaching doctrine 2026-07-27):

• Who owns the through-vertical segment. Through the vertical segment, roughly 2–3 s on a basic pass-through, where nobody is on belly, the receiving leader (the emerging belly flyer) owns navigation and abort as the segment begins. Ownership passes at the start of the through-vertical segment, not at its end, so there is never a leaderless gap at max speed.

  • The receiving leader is already acquiring the new sight picture as the group comes through.
  • Briefed explicitly on every through-vertical jump.

• If the second leader is lost before handover (Leader-2-loss protocol). If the receiving leader corks or goes low before the handover, the pass-through is aborted: Leader 1, still on belly, still navigating, steepens and pulls the group out per the abort criteria below.

  • There is no back-flying substitute leader.
  • Because dynamic is led on belly, Leader 1 on their back cannot step up and no one is asked to lead from the back to fill the gap.
  • The jump reverts to a straight angle led on belly and breaks off normally.

• On coached training jumps, the two-leaders standard has a training exception. The two-approved-leaders standard is a non-training dynamic-jump standard.

  • A coached DY201 2-way pass-through structurally cannot field two independently approved leaders, there is one coach and one student.
  • So on coached DY201 training jumps the coach is Leader 1, and the through-vertical segment is flown only when the coach judges the student ready to receive the belly lead (ready to be the receiving leader for those ~2–3 s).
  • If the coach does not judge the student ready, the jump stays a straight angle and does not transition through vertical.
  • The belly-led principle stays intact, there is always an approved belly leader (the coach) bracketing the student’s brief turn as receiving leader.

• Turn-radius ownership on a flock-and-roll. A handover during a flock-and-roll happens mid-turn, so it transfers turn-radius (arc) ownership with the lead.

  • Brief who sets the arc: the receiving leader sets the new arc as they pick up the lead, and the group flies the outside of that arc with speed (turns are curves, not corners).
  • A mismatched arc across the handover is a closing-speed hazard, name it in the dirt-dive.

Mastery track, no sign-off. Completion of this unit is a milestone, not a permission: it admits the flyer to Dynamic-track group jumps within this curriculum, and nothing more. The unit’s entry gates are course-internal safety gates, 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) and, for any jump that transitions through vertical, holding head-down competence at crest standard, because every participant on a through-vertical jump is momentarily flying head-down (the project’s coaching doctrine, gate scope clarified by The Freefly Project 2026-07-26).

Environment: sky, with tunnel drills (belly/back carving, belly↔back flips and layouts) as preparation.

Supervision: coach as leader of a 2–3-way, scaffold stage coach-as-leader → coach in the group; group size guide 2–3 plus the coach-leader, with every jump designed around the least experienced flyer (USPA SIM 5-10.E; Spaceland movement policy).

On a coached training jump the coach is Leader 1 under the two-leaders training exception (see the leadership edge cases above): the through-vertical segment is flown only when the coach judges the student ready to receive the belly lead, so the two-approved-leaders standard for non-training dynamic jumps is satisfied by the coach’s leadership bracketing the student’s brief turn as receiving leader.

Pre-requisite units

FFP-F100 (establish freefly foundations), FFP-AN201 (fly angles in a slot, belly and back assessed separately).

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

1. Through-vertical gate: for any Dynamic-track jump that transitions through vertical, head-down competence at crest standard, FFP-HD202 or national equivalent (e.g. the Australian the head-down crest), is recommended for all participants: everyone on the jump is momentarily flying head-down.
2. Both-orientation gate: demonstrated competence in belly and back flying.
3. Bail-out gate: the belly→back transition demonstrated to the coach before the first dynamic jump.
4. Weakest-orientation-first: the coach evaluates the candidate in both orientations and starts them in the weaker, usually belly, as most intermediate–advanced flyers feel most comfortable on their back (the project’s coaching doctrine).

RPL route: see the RPL evidence set below. The bail-out gate is always demonstrated 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 gate status against the jump's content (both-orientation and bail-out gates; HD-crest-level competence for all participants where the jump transitions through vertical).

1.3

Present the flight-path plan, line direction off jump run, steepness, the transition point, and the opening point, relative to other groups on the load. (Steepness of the evaluation-jump angle is the coach's call: steep enough to genuinely simulate the approach into a through-vertical pass, the students feel the speed and pitch they would carry into the vertical, while remaining a straight angle that never goes 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, 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 dynamic jump.

2.3

Dirt-dive the line with slot allocations, the transition key, the abort criteria (belly flyers not in slot on the angle = pass-through aborted; a scattered group = the leader steepens, then pulls back out) and, on any jump that passes through vertical, the leadership handover plan: name who owns navigation/abort through the vertical segment (the receiving belly flyer, from the start of the segment), the Leader-2-loss response (receiving leader lost before handover = pass-through aborted, Leader 1 steepens and pulls out, no back-flying substitute), who sets the turn-radius (arc) across the handover on a flock-and-roll, and, on a coached training jump, that the coach is Leader 1 and the through-vertical segment is flown only when the coach judges the student ready to receive the belly lead (the two-leaders training exception; two approved leaders otherwise; the middle person on belly is always leading).

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 pre-dynamic evaluation jump

3.1

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

3.2

Hold the belly slot on a steep straight angle, 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

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

3.4

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

3.5

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

3.6

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

3.7

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, 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 pre-dynamic evaluation jump"), criteria results and current gate status, the curriculum is what makes log entries meaningful.

Bold criteria are safety-critical: non-compensable within this course’s assessment (any Not Yet Satisfactory = unit Not Yet Competent, regardless of flying quality). They are strongly recommended best-practice standards within FFP courses, risk treatments with reasons, not regulations.

Foundation skills

• Briefing and debriefing communication (gate conversations, abort calls, keys).
• 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 6 coached group jumps in the Dynamic-track entry 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 pre-dynamic evaluation jumps (belly → steep straight angle → transition to back in slot) meeting all criteria, including two consecutive evaluation jumps meeting all criteria without coach assistance or prompts.
• Both orientations evidenced in slot, with training begun in the candidate’s weaker orientation (weakest-orientation-first).
• Across at least two different days/conditions.
• Tunnel time may substitute for up to two of the skill-development jumps (belly↔back flips/layouts, belly and back carving), never for the evaluation jumps.
• All within a recommended 6-month currency window.

Knowledge evidence

• Explain why every participant on a through-vertical jump is momentarily flying head-down, and why HD-crest-level competence is therefore recommended for all participants (the gate rationale).
• Explain the key risk of a dynamic pass-through, a low belly flyer bombing through the diving formation, and how it arises on a flock-and-roll (getting trapped on the inside or outside of the turn).
• Explain how transition count changes a dynamic jump’s footprint, and why advanced belly angles at high speed are the most important basic-dynamic skill.
  • 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.
  • The classic cork point: comfortable on back, then corking on the high-speed transition to belly.
• Explain the belly-led leadership doctrine: why dynamic jumps are led on belly only, why a non-training pass-through jump therefore needs two approved leaders with handover at the pass-through, and why the new belly flyer pulling the group to the new line is safer and tighter than a transitioning leader pushing a twitchy belly flyer in front of them (the middle person on belly is always leading).
• State the leadership edge cases briefed on a through-vertical jump: who owns navigation/abort through the vertical segment.
  • The Leader-2-loss protocol.
  • Who sets the turn-radius across a flock-and-roll handover.
  • And, on a coached training jump, the two-leaders training exception.
  • The receiving belly flyer, from the segment’s start, so there is no leaderless gap at max speed.
  • Receiving leader lost before handover = abort, Leader 1 steepens and pulls out, no back-flying substitute leader.
  • Coach is Leader 1; the vertical segment is flown only when the coach judges the student ready to receive the belly lead.
• State the lost-leader protocol and the abort criteria, and describe the leader’s response to a scattered group (make the jump steep, then pull back out).
• 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.
• 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).
• 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.8).
• State the group-planning guides: movement groups per load, the jump designed around the least experienced flyer, 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 gates and a jump permission or regulatory sign-off.
• Analyse own video to diagnose a slot-displacement or level fault through a transition.

Assessment conditions

• Sky jumps from a recommended 10,000 ft minimum exit (APF006 §3.2).
• A real group of 2–3 plus the coach-leader.
• Mandatory video of assessment jumps (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-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 Dynamic-track group jumps 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 gate conversation is held openly before money is spent, a candidate turned away from a through-vertical jump is offered the belly/back development path instead, never just a “no”. Weakest-orientation-first is explained up front as a safety decision, not a demotion.

Debriefs end on a win with one improvement focus; the evaluation jump is framed as the door into dynamic flying, not an exam.

RPL evidence set

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

• Logbook evidence of angle/movement jumps flown in both belly and back orientations.
• Head-down crest or national equivalent (e.g. Australian the head-down crest, UK FF2), or FFP-HD202, for through-vertical participation.
• Tunnel records at IBA Dynamic Level 3 equivalents (belly and back carving, belly↔back flips or layouts).
• A video portfolio showing in-slot back flying and an in-line belly→back transition on a real jump (candidate identifiable).
• Plus one challenge jump: the pre-dynamic evaluation jump flown against the full Element 3–4 criteria with a coach-leader.

The bail-out gate (criterion 2.2) is always demonstrated live to the coach and is never satisfied by prior evidence alone.

Sources