Dynamic 402 — Mirror the leader

The checklist

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.

Criteria in bold are safety-critical: they protect the flyer and everyone else in the group and on the load. Any bold criterion at Not Yet Satisfactory means the milestone is not recorded, 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 13,000 ft or higher (recommended). The multi-phase flow uses the full working time at angle and vertical speeds.
• A real small group for the group criteria: the suggested 3-way with the coach on belly, and 4 flyers at most. Tunnel work is preparation only.
• Video of every assessment jump is required, from a dedicated camera flyer or flown by the leader, with the flyer identifiable.
• Equipment: a visual altimeter, a working audible (two recommended), an AAD, and freefly-suitable gear with a tight pilot chute pouch.
• Conditions within the group’s briefed limits, with winds aloft assessed in planning.
• The assessor is an experienced dynamic or movement organiser, or a freefly coach current in mixed-orientation coaching, using this checklist.
• Each criterion is marked Satisfactory or Not Yet Satisfactory.
• Completion is recorded as a Mastery milestone only. It confers no privilege and gives no permission to plan, lead or join any jump.
• Along the way, fly the full flow, one variation and both mirroring patterns, with at least two different partners, camps or organisers.
• As a guide, it takes about 10 jumps within 12 months. Tunnel work comes first and replaces no sky jumps.
• If you already fly this, your coach can assess you over 2 jumps against the checklist, or from coach-checked video plus tunnel records. Coach-checked video of carving behind a leader covers a skipped Dynamic 401.

Coaching priorities

Safety first, then fun, then learning. Hold the bold criteria to the standard above. At Mastery the group still designs the jump to the least experienced flyer, and standing down when someone isn’t ready is good judgement. Plan sessions to be enjoyable: flyers choose this expensive hobby, and enjoying it keeps them in the sport. End each debrief on something that went well, with one thing to improve.

• FAI/ISC Competition Rules, Indoor Skydiving Dynamic 2-Way and 4-Way (2025 edition): snakes, verticals and mixers (Annex A), the orientation, rotation and pathway taxonomy including carving, layouts and stalls (Annex B), and the free-routine execution criteria for pass closeness, synchronisation, uniformity and balance.
• USPA Skydiver’s Information Manual, movement jumps (5-10, formerly 6-12) and freefly (6-2 in the 2023-24 edition): two movement groups per load, designing the jump to the least experienced flyer, back-fly at breakoff, the corking speed differential and freefly equipment.
• APF Freefly and Angles Guide (APF006, August 2023): the recovery position and staying with the group, in-line transitions over the body, and the burble contrast between vertical and movement flying.
• Christy West (Spaceland) on movement-jump safety: avoiding straight-down groups is the moving group’s job.
• Body Piloting Championships judging: the no-blind-moves rule.
• Skydive Mag, “Full Front Layout”, and Mason Corby on transitions: layout technique.
• Jake Carlton, “Head Up Angles and the Breakoff Problem” (Skydive Mag): why head-up breakoffs lose power, distance and altitude.
• Newcastle Sport Parachute Club, Hunter Valley angle and movement jump guidelines: movement groups per load, cloud, the leader, and talking the plan through with the load master.
• The Freefly Project’s breakoff guides for head-up movement jumps, and its small-group guides for dynamic flying.
• 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 defines or regulates sky dynamic. The word appears once in APF guidance, as a trajectory label (APF006 p.5), and no federation examines it.
• Australia (APF). These jumps sit across OR 9.2 (freefly) and OR 9.9 (tracking and angles), and the DZSO resolves the mix. Under OR 9.2, head-up or head-down groups larger than 3 need an FFC-HU or FFC-HD, and a functioning audible is mandatory on every freefly descent (OR 9.2.3).
• Under OR 9.9, tracking and angle jumps need a Certificate Class C, the DZSO’s written endorsement for groups larger than a 3-way, and an approved leader. Any RW larger than 10 needs a Star Crest (OR 9.1.3).
• In Australia the assessor is an APF Freefly Coach. With no federation examining sky dynamic, assessors calibrate against the published FFP standardisation notes.
• United States (USPA). These are advanced movement jumps (SIM 5-10, formerly 6-12), with a leader holding at least a C licence. Follow your federation’s rules and your drop zone’s movement-jump policy.

Acronym key. APF, Australian Parachute Federation. OR, the APF Operational Regulations. DZSO, drop zone safety officer. FFC, freefly crest. RW, relative work (formation skydiving). FFP, The Freefly Project. USPA, United States Parachute Association. SIM, the USPA Skydiver’s Information Manual.