Dynamic 302 — Fly movement into vertical

Application

This unit is a movement jump into vertical. The group starts the jump moving, transitions to vertical (head-up or head-down), builds a round, then an accordion.

It is the harder direction of the two component parts for anyone without solid vertical skills, and the one that leans hardest on vertical skill: the jump tests being in slot and tight in the angle as it steepens toward vertical, carrying near-vertical speed and pitch on the way in, and then in the vertical position itself.

FFP-DY301 trains the opposite direction (vertical into movement), and FFP-DY303 links the two into the pass-through.

For extra difficulty the group concludes the jump by moving again: grips break and the group follows the leader back onto a line under the FFP-DY301 slot-to-orientation assignment, ending the jump on an angle. Whether to fly that closing segment is the coach’s call, resting on the group’s tightness through the vertical build.

That closing departure is the manoeuvre APF006 cautions against, a radical level change on a vertical jump, with the transition to belly its named example (§3.3). The simultaneous grip-release key and the assigned orientations are the control: every flyer changes level at the same moment, in a briefed direction, into airspace they have just cleared.

A flyer who misses the key does not chase the departing line: hold orientation, let the group depart, and follow from below.

The abort geometry. The group goes vertical only from a tight angle. When the group is not in slot and tight as the line steepens, the leader shallows the line back out and the jump stays an angle, the same pull-out-the-way-you-came-in geometry the 200 tier is built on. A loose group steepening toward vertical sets up the low-flyer and closing-speed hazards the track’s discipline exists to prevent.

Leadership. The leader is on belly whenever the group is moving: the belly leader reads the ground and the line directly and owns navigation and the opening point. This jump steepens into vertical and stops there rather than passing through, so the moving segments carry a single belly leader, with the vertical build keyed as a formation.

The full through-vertical leadership doctrine, two approved leaders and the belly-led handover, lives in FFP-DY303 and FFP-DY304.

Fly dynamic small: start at 2-way, build to 3-way, then 4-way, group sizes 2–4 are the guide for this unit. Anything over 6 is highly advanced and best avoided; that scale belongs to dedicated competition-style teams working up incrementally, not a weekend load.

Mastery-track note: the Dynamic track carries no sign-off, completion of this unit is a milestone, not a permission, and its prerequisites are course-internal safety standards.

Environment: sky, with tunnel drills (angle-to-vertical transition mechanics, vertical formation craft) as preparation. Exits, navigation, group flow and breakoff are sky-only skills.

Supervision: the coach leads. The candidate flies the line slot through the steepening and the vertical build; the closing movement segment joins the jump when the coach judges the group ready.

Pre-requisite units

FFP-DY301 (fly vertical into movement, which itself carries FFP-DY202 and group vertical competence in the orientation flown, FFP-HU301 or FFP-HD301 standard). The orientation flown in this unit matches the group vertical competence held. RPL route: see the RPL evidence set.

Elements and performance criteria

1. Plan the jump

1.1

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

1.2

Plan the sequence, the moving exit, the steepening line, the transition-to-vertical point fixed by landmark reference, the round, the accordion and, where briefed, the closing movement segment, matching it to the working time.

1.3

Verify every participant's standing against the jump: FFP-DY301, group vertical competence in the planned orientation, and currency.

1.4

Match group size, and the decision to fly the closing movement segment, to the least-experienced flyer within the 2–4-way guide.

1.5

Design the flight path clear of jump run and other groups' airspace, with planned opening points and a backup plan for weather or jump-run changes.

1.6

State the breakoff and deployment altitudes (guides: 5,000 ft up to a 4-way, 5,500 ft for five or more; where the jump is flown head-up the floor rises, head-up groups 5,500 ft minimum; breakoff at least 1,000 ft above the highest planned deployment), the fan-out plan, and the lost-leader protocol.

2. Prepare

2.1

Complete a freefly-specific gear check on self and a cross-check of one other flyer (handles, BOC, riser covers, closing loop, helmet, audible set and functioning; a second audible recommended).

2.2

Walk the full sequence in the dirt dive, slots on the line, the transition-to-vertical key, round slots and grips, the accordion build and, where briefed, the grip-release key and slot-to-orientation assignment for the closing movement segment (per FFP-DY301).

2.3

Brief the abort criteria: the group goes vertical only from a tight angle, when the group is not in slot and tight as the line steepens, the leader shallows the line back out and the jump stays an angle.

2.4

Confirm exit order, separation and the planned flight path with the load, manifest and any other movement groups (guide: two movement groups per load).

3. Perform

3.1

Exit and establish the briefed slot on the moving line before the leader steepens.

3.2

Hold the briefed slot and level, tight to the formation, as the leader steepens the line toward vertical, matching the leader's speed and pitch (entering the leader's zone, no line busts).

3.3

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

3.4

Transition to vertical (head-up or head-down) on the briefed key, holding slot and level through the transition.

3.5

Hold the angle slot when late on the transition key, transitioning only once the flyer ahead is vertical and own airspace is clear, never while closing on the group.

3.6

Build the briefed round, approaching on level and docking without destabilising the formation.

3.7

Build the accordion on the briefed key, taking the briefed grips and holding level through the build.

3.8

Where the closing movement segment is briefed, break grips on the leader's key, coming out in the assigned orientation, following the leader back onto a line and ending the jump on an angle.

3.9

Execute the off-key rule after missing the grip-release key on the closing segment: hold orientation, let the group depart, and follow the group's line from below, transitioning only in clear air, never late into the departing group.

3.10

Control closing speed on every approach, slowing, never turning 180° from the group heading, if overtaking the leader or the group.

3.11

Recover in slot on any instability, never track away, rejoining only when stable and on level.

3.12

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

3.13

Abort the transition to vertical when the group is not in slot and tight on the steepening angle: the leader shallows the line back out, every flyer holds their angle slot, and the jump stays an angle.

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 arc line and track, checking airspace.

4.4

Deploy at the planned altitude after clearing airspace.

4.5

Fly the agreed canopy separation plan, holding off the jump-run line until airspace is confirmed clear.

5. Review

5.1

Debrief against the declared objective using video, marking angle faults (slot and level misses on the steepening line) and vertical-formation faults (transition, round and accordion) separately.

5.2

Identify one steepening-segment fault and one vertical-formation fault, with a correction for the next jump.

5.3

Log the jump with criteria results and a reflection naming the unit and skills assessed (e.g. "FFP-DY302 movement into vertical, held slot through the steepening, late on the accordion grip"), entries like this make the logbook a meaningful training record.

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

Foundation skills

• Group briefing and landmark-based navigation communication.
• Altitude, separation and closing-speed numeracy.
• Planning and organising (sequence design, transition placement, load coordination).
• Teamwork and mutual monitoring from a moving line to formation grips.
• Self-management under stress (abort, no-blind-transition and in-slot recovery discipline).

Performance evidence (suggested sufficiency, adjust locally)

Ability evidenced across a guide of 8 coached jumps (2-way building to 4-way). The number is a guide to how long it might take, not a quota; competence against the criteria is the standard. The evidence should include:

• At least 4 jumps completing the full sequence, moving exit, steepening, transition to vertical, round, accordion.
• Jumps flown in the orientation of the group vertical competence held (head-up or head-down); a flyer holding both standards may evidence either or both.
• The closing movement segment flown on at least one jump where the coach judges the group ready, an extra-difficulty variant at the coach’s call, and an extension rather than a core requirement.
• Two consecutive jumps meeting all criteria without coach assistance or prompts.
• At least two different days/conditions.
• All within a recommended 6-month currency window.

Tunnel time may substitute for angle-to-vertical transition mechanics and vertical-formation-craft development reps, but never for exits, navigation, group flow or breakoff, whole-task integration jumps precede assessment.

Knowledge evidence

• Explain the unit’s place in the Dynamic track: movement into vertical is the second component part of through-vertical group flying, FFP-DY301 trains the opposite direction, and the pass-through (FFP-DY303) links the two.
• Explain why this is the harder direction of the pair for anyone without solid vertical skills: the flyer holds slot and tightness in the angle as it steepens into near-vertical speed and pitch, the demand the 200 tier stress-tested, and then holds the vertical position itself through a static build.
• Explain the abort logic: the group goes vertical only from a tight angle.
  • Explain the hazards a loose group steepening toward vertical creates, flyers arriving at the vertical out of slot at high closing speed, and a low flyer losing the group, and the leader’s response (shallow the line back out; the jump stays an angle).
• Describe the transition to vertical at the briefed key: clear own airspace first, rotate over the body without dropping a shoulder under (APF006 §5.11–5.12), and re-establish level and slot promptly.
• Explain the late-on-key hazard at the transition to vertical: the group stops moving across the sky as it goes vertical, and a flyer transitioning late carries line speed into stopped flyers, so the late flyer holds the angle slot and transitions only once the flyer ahead is vertical and own airspace is clear, never while closing on the group.
• Explain the slot-to-orientation assignment for the closing movement segment, the leader departs on belly, the flyer adjacent to the leader in the accordion follows on belly, the other line comes out on back (per FFP-DY301), and why the coach’s call on flying it rests on the group’s tightness through the vertical build.
• Relate the closing departure to APF006’s caution against radical level changes on vertical jumps, whose named example is the transition to belly (§3.3): the simultaneous grip-release key and the assigned orientations are the level-change control, putting every flyer through the transition at the same moment in a briefed direction.
  • Explain the off-key rule’s logic: a late transition into the departing line recreates the speed difference the caution describes, so the off-key flyer holds orientation, lets the group depart, and follows from below.
• Explain why the leader is on belly whenever the group is moving, ground visual, navigation, the opening point, and state where the full through-vertical leadership doctrine (two approved leaders, the belly-led handover) lives: FFP-DY303 and FFP-DY304.
  • This jump steepens into vertical and stops there, so the moving segments carry a single belly leader.
• Explain line integrity in zone and level terms: a line bust is failing to enter the leader’s zone or level.
  • 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.
• Explain the in-slot recovery rule: on any instability hold the group’s heading and speed and never track away, off-heading flight paths are the dangerous collisions, and the group’s line is the known-clear airspace.
  • Rejoin only when stable and on level.
  • If separated, deploy higher, after checking above (APF006 §4.3).
• Explain the lost-leader protocol’s logic: the transition to back and the turn onto a back angle regain visual on the group from below, using the belly-to-back transition trained and checked at FFP-DY202.
• Describe the freefly-specific gear check and why each item matters, including why a functioning audible is essential on every dynamic jump, and a second recommended, given the loss of altitude awareness associated with movement jumps.
• State the freefly breakoff guides, 5,000 ft for groups up to a 4-way, 5,500 ft for five or more, and a 5,500 ft minimum for head-up groups, which applies directly when this jump ends in a head-up formation, noting that most modern jumpers plan 5,500 ft for any freefly group and will generally not accept 4,500 ft.
  • Apply the fan-out arc arithmetic to a 2–4-way, every flyer keeping at least 1,000 ft between breakoff and deployment.
• Explain why a back-flyer at breakoff rolls to belly only when on a clear trajectory with no one above (USPA SIM 5-10.E).
• State the group-planning guides: group sizes 2–4 with anything over 6 in dedicated-team territory.
  • Two movement groups per load.
  • The moving group carries the whole responsibility for avoiding the straight-down groups.
  • Movement groups exit in the freefly slot and fly a line clear of, typically perpendicular to, jump run.
• Analyse own video to diagnose one steepening-segment fault and one vertical-formation fault.

Assessment conditions

Sky jumps from a recommended 12,000 ft minimum (guide, the moving segment and the vertical build both need working time). Assessment jumps are flown as a real group within the 2–4-way guide: a qualified leader plus at least one other flyer, completing the full sequence from moving exit to accordion. Where the coach briefs the closing movement segment, it is assessed as an extension: competence in the core sequence stands on its own.

Video of assessment jumps is required for a valid assessment (outside camera or leader-flown; candidate identifiable). Required equipment: visual altimeter, functioning audible (second audible recommended), AAD recommended, freefly-suitable gear. The group declares the flight path to the load and manifest, and conditions stay within all participants’ cleared limits.

Assessor: a freefly coach current in dynamic/movement coaching, using the published FFP-DY302 checklist (Satisfactory / Not Yet Satisfactory per criterion).

Coaching priorities

Deliver in the project’s priority order: Safety → Fun → Learning (curriculum Part A0). Safety criteria are non-compensable. The coach designs the session to be enjoyable: one declared objective per jump, with tempo matched to the group, and the closing movement segment offered as the reward step once the core sequence is tight. End each debrief on a win with one improvement focus.

RPL evidence set

For experienced entrants, the following alternative evidence is suggested:

• Logbook evidencing equivalent jumps that steepen a movement jump into a vertical formation (angle-to-vertical group jumps with a static build).
• A video portfolio demonstrating the Perform criteria, including the transition to vertical in slot and the formation build.
• Tunnel records covering angle-to-vertical transition mechanics and vertical formation craft, plus sky validation of navigation, group flow and breakoff.
• Or a challenge assessment of two jumps against the full criteria with a qualifying assessor.

The FFP-DY301 prerequisite (or its equivalent evidence) applies on every route, and the FFP-DY202 assessment jump is recommended for every entrant regardless of route.

Sources