Dynamic 201 — Fly a near-vertical back angle

The checklist

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.

Criteria in bold are safety-critical: they protect the flyer and everyone else in the group. A coach should not sign off the course while a bold criterion is Not Yet Satisfactory, however good the rest of the flying. Outside a course they are strongly recommended practice. Regulation stays with your federation and your drop zone.

Assessment conditions

• Sky jumps from 10,000 ft or higher (recommended), with a real group of 2–3 plus the coach-leader.
• Video of every assessment jump, with the flyer identifiable: leader-flown, outside or helmet-mounted. An assessment without video is not valid.
• Equipment: a visual altimeter, a working audible, an AAD (recommended), and freefly-suitable gear.
• Conditions within the flyer’s cleared limits. Calm to mild upper winds are recommended for assessment jumps.
• The assessor is a freefly coach current in both angle and vertical coaching and approved to lead movement jumps at the host drop zone, working from this checklist.
• Each criterion is marked Satisfactory or Not Yet Satisfactory, and the course as Competent or Not Yet Competent.
• The result is internal to these courses. It opens Dynamic 202 and jumps of this format within the curriculum, and gives no licence, crest, endorsement or jump permission.
• As a guide, it takes at least four coached group jumps, at least two of them with the full dive and pull-out, over at least two days within six months.
• One skill-building jump can be tunnel time on back carving and back-fly fall rate.
• If you already fly steep back angles, your coach can assess you on one near-vertical back angle behind a coach-leader, with your logbook, tunnel records and video. Finishing gives you no licence, crest or jump permission.

Coaching priorities

• Safety first, then fun, then learning. Hold the bold criteria to the standard above.
• The entry standards are course safety standards for taking part in dynamic jumps. Say so in every briefing: they are not jump permissions, licences or crests. A drop zone may adopt them as local policy.
• Evaluate each flyer on belly and back, and put the development work into the weaker side, usually belly. The same evaluation sets which side the flyer starts on for the first pass-through at Dynamic 303.
• Have the entry-standard conversation openly, before the flyer spends money. For a flyer below the standard, offer the belly and back angle courses as the path in.
• Explain the tier’s design up front as a safety decision: pulling out the way you came in lets the flyer meet near-vertical speed and pitch before any jump passes through vertical.
• End each debrief on something that went well, with one thing to improve, and present the dive and pull-out as the way into dynamic flying.

• APF Freefly and Angles Guide (APF006): exit and breakoff guides (§3.2–3.3), recovering in slot (§4.3), the peel-off breakoff (§5.10), and the fly and no-fly zones on an angle line (§5.13).
• APF Angle Flying Rule Book: groups per pass and the ladder of slot skills.
• USPA Skydiver’s Information Manual 5-10: movement-jump difficulty by transition count, groups per load, planning around the least experienced flyer, and rolling to belly at breakoff only when the air above is clear.
• Mason Corby on transitions in angle jumps and at breakoff.
• Vertical Suits, “Indoors Outdoors”: back-fly as the foundation for carving and angles.
• Christy West and Skydive Spaceland on movement-jump safety and group size.
• Skydive Arizona’s canopy policy on flying clear of jump run.
• Newcastle Sport Parachute Club, Hunter Valley angle and movement jump guidelines: movement groups per load, cloud, and the leader’s navigation brief with the load master.
• The Freefly Project’s coaching doctrine: the dynamic entry standards, the dive-and-pull-out format, the abort and lost-leader protocols, the footprint and cork-point reasoning, the group-size ladder and the breakoff guides.
• APF Operational Regulations (V01-2026), as jurisdictional context.

Regulations change, so each rule is given with its document edition, as context for where you jump. No national body anywhere sets prerequisites or safety rules for sky dynamic, so these courses use the movement-jump rules.

• Australia (APF, OR V01-2026). These jumps sit under OR 9.9 (tracking and angles): a Certificate Class C, the DZSO’s written endorsement for groups larger than a 3-way, and an approved leader. The assessing coach is an APF Freefly Coach leading under OR 9.9.3 with DZSO approval.
• A functioning audible altimeter is mandatory on every freefly descent (OR 9.2.3). Breakoff at least 1,000 ft above the highest planned deployment is mandatory (OR 9.1.4).
• United States (USPA). SIM 5-10 grades movement jumps by transition count (0, 1–3, 4+). A jump in this course has no transitions, and its difficulty is in the steepness. The later through-vertical passes sit in the middle band, one switch per flyer, at the steep end, with an expert leader (SIM 5-10.E).
• Elsewhere. A national or drop zone equivalent of an approved movement leader.

Acronym key. APF, Australian Parachute Federation. OR, the APF Operational Regulations. DZSO, drop zone safety officer. USPA, United States Parachute Association. SIM, the USPA Skydiver’s Information Manual.