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Dynamic · Mastery · The brief

Dynamic 404

Combine following, mirroring and eagles

Following, mirroring and eagles combined into one jump.

What the course is about

You'll learn to fly following, mirroring and an eagle in one small-group jump, and to work towards the challenge jump that chains every discipline in the catalog. Dynamic 401, 402 and 403 come first, because each trains one of the three pieces on its own.
In Australia, tracking and angle jumps need a Certificate C, and larger groups need the matching Freefly Crest and the drop zone safety officer's written endorsement.

What comes before it

Screen 2 · What to watch

What to watch

The same short list the flyer sees on their card, in the same words.

3.3
Fly the head-up component in role, the leader initiating head-up movement on belly, the followers holding the back slots, with the group in its angle/accordion arrangement, close and on level.

Can you fly the head-up component in your role, holding a back slot in the angle and accordion arrangement, close and on level?

3.4
Fly the offset eagle in role, the leader initiating the front layout back into an angle laterally offset from the outbound lane and heading back the way the group came, each follower going from the head-up back angle through a layout into a back angle on their pre-assigned side and chasing the leader back along the previous direction.

Can you fly the offset eagle in role, laying out back into an angle offset from the outbound lane and chasing the leader back the way you came?

3.5 Safety critical
Fly the offset-eagle lane discipline: each follower holds the outbound lane until their own layout key, reverses onto their pre-assigned offset side, and never crosses the leader's reciprocal lane.

Do you hold the outbound lane until your own key, reverse onto your assigned offset side, and never cross the leader’s lane?

Screen 3 · What blocks a sign-off

What blocks a sign-off

A safety-critical item marked not yet stops the sign-off, however good the rest of the flying was. The rest of the jump cannot make up for it.

Safety-critical items on the short list

3.5
Fly the offset-eagle lane discipline: each follower holds the outbound lane until their own layout key, reverses onto their pre-assigned offset side, and never crosses the leader's reciprocal lane.

Do you hold the outbound lane until your own key, reverse onto your assigned offset side, and never cross the leader’s lane?

Everything this course says about breakoff and deployment

1.5
State the breakoff plan, breakoff altitude, the head-up rotate-head-first rule, the back-flyer roll rule and deployment altitudes, with separation complete at least 1,000 ft above the planned deployment height (guides: 5,000 ft for freefly groups up to 4-way, noting most modern jumpers use 5,500 ft for any freefly group and will generally not accept 4,500 ft; the head-up-movement component raises the floor to 6,000 ft minimum, 6,500 ft for larger groups).
3.10
Once the group has reversed, never rejoin across the reciprocal: a dropped flyer holds an offset line, follows from below on the new direction only once the group is re-acquired, and otherwise separates and deploys higher after checking airspace.
4.1
Initiate breakoff at the briefed altitude (within −0/+300 ft), rotating from head-up to a head-first orientation first if breaking from a head-up segment, then turning onto a clear radial while flattening pitch to a track; never back-track away while still head-up.
4.2
If on the back at breakoff, roll to belly only once 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.

Recording a sign-off says what you saw on one jump. Permission to jump, and anything the drop zone requires, stay with the drop zone.

Screen 4 · Conditions

Conditions

Where the evidence is allowed to come from, and how much of it there needs to be.

Assessment conditions

- Sky jumps from 13,000 ft or higher (recommended). The combination uses altitude fast at angle speeds of about 270–400+ km/h.
A real small group for the group criteria: 2–3 flyers, 4 at most. Tunnel work is preparation only.
Video of every assessment jump is required, with the flyer identifiable: a dedicated camera flyer or leader-flown.
Equipment: a visual altimeter, a working audible (two recommended), an AAD, and freefly-suitable gear with a tight bottom-of-container pouch.
Conditions within the group's briefed limits, with winds aloft checked 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.
Record completion as a Mastery milestone only. It carries no sign-off and no privilege, and gives no permission to plan, lead or join any jump.
Track vocabulary for briefings: the mixed snake is a follow-the-leader snake flown across orientations. The offset eagle is a front layout back into an angle, offset from the outbound lane, with each flyer's side set in the brief. The push-through is the leader going to head-up through the belly and pushing through the formation, with the followers copying. The over-the-feet transition is a back flyer's move to belly.
Prior experience: logbook and video of combination sky jumps at the 4+ grade, with the mixed snake, a head-up part and an offset eagle identifiable, verified by a freefly coach. Tunnel records at IBA Dynamic Level 4 or Pro, or equivalent school records (confirm against IBA's own material). Competition results support the sky criteria and replace none of them. Or a challenge assessment across a suggested 4 jumps.
Along the way, fly every part at the 4+ grade, with at least two different partners, camps or organisers.
As a guide, it takes about 12 jumps within 12 months. Tunnel work comes first, and only sky jumps count.
If you already fly combination jumps, your coach can assess you from your logbook, video and tunnel records, or on about 4 jumps against the checklist.

Performance evidence

Debrief each part on video for pass closeness, sync and balance, and log the jump with the next jump's grade. You've finished Dynamic 404 when you fly two jumps in a row that meet everything on the coach's checklist below.

Screen 5 · Debrief

Debrief

Safety first, then fun, then learning. In that order, every time.

Coaching priorities

Safety first, then fun, then learning. Hold the bold criteria to the standard above. At Mastery tier the group still plans to the least experienced flyer, and standing a jump down when someone isn't ready is the right call.
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.

One fault, one correction

Ask for their read before you give yours. Then leave them with one fault and one correction, in their words if you can get them. One of each is easier to carry onto the next load than six points.

A jump marked not yet is a jump to fly again. Tell them that as part of the debrief.

Record this jump

Your notes for this course

Saved on this device only, with no account. They will be here next time you open this card.

This card is a summary. The full Dynamic 404 course page carries the reasoning, the sources and everything left off here. All briefing cards.