Dynamic 304 — Fly a flock and roll

Application

Covers flying a flock and roll, a pass-through combined with a 90° turn. The formation dives through 90° of turn, passes through vertical, and departs on a path 270° from the original bearing. The turn adds complexity and a real disorientation risk over the straight pass-through: mid-turn and mid-pass, every reference, ground, group and horizon, is moving at once (the project’s coaching doctrine, The Freefly Project 2026-08-05).

The defining hazard, the trapped belly flyer. The turn creates the specific danger the 200 tier trained for: a belly flyer trapped on the inside or outside of the turn goes low, loses sight of the group, and floats up blind through the diving formation. The trained recovery is the belly-to-back transition practised and demonstrated in FFP-DY202: transition to back to regain visual and follow the group from below.

That recovery is a safety-critical criterion of this unit (the project’s coaching doctrine, The Freefly Project 2026-08-05).

On this reversing jump the recovery carries one extra rule, the dropped-flyer rule: the departing line is the reciprocal of the group’s line into the pass, and while the group is safe against its own earlier column (it is always below its earlier altitude there), a dropped flyer descending on that column can meet the returning group head-on.

Once the group has passed through, do not rejoin across the reciprocal, hold an offset line, follow from below on the new direction only with the group re-acquired visually, and otherwise separate and deploy higher after checking airspace (review-derived doctrine, adversarial review 2026-08-05, RT-9, applied under flag).

Turn-radius (arc) ownership is central to this jump. Handover on a flock and roll happens mid-turn, so it transfers turn-radius (arc) ownership with the lead: 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, the leader carries the group around an arc the whole formation can fly, and a mismatched arc across the handover is a closing-speed hazard named in the dirt-dive (the project’s coaching doctrine, RED-6d 2026-07-27).

Leadership doctrine carried from FFP-DY303. The lead is always on belly.

Across the pass either the lead changes hands, the two-leader belly-led handover, the recommended model for non-training jumps, or the leader transitions back to belly (the stated alternative, e.g. on coached jumps, under which the leader retains lead and abort ownership throughout the pass), and under either mechanism the middle person on belly is always leading.

• The four leadership edge cases briefed on every through-vertical jump apply in full: the receiving leader owns navigation and abort from the start of the vertical segment (under the re-transition mechanism, the leader throughout).
• The leader-loss protocol covers both windows, a receiving leader lost before handover means the pass is aborted, Leader 1 steepens and pulls out, with no back-flying substitute, and if no belly lead has emerged within the briefed ~2–3 s mid-pass, each flyer completes their own transition over the body, holds the reciprocal line, and the jump is over, no rebuilding, break off per the plan.
• Deploying higher if separated (review-derived doctrine, adversarial review 2026-08-05, RT-10, applied under flag).
• On coached training jumps the coach is Leader 1, retaining the lead throughout under the re-transition mechanism and flying the handover only when the coach judges the student ready to receive the belly lead.
• And arc ownership passes with the lead, the edge case this jump exists to exercise.

FFP-DY303 carries the full doctrine text (the project’s coaching doctrine, The Freefly Project 2026-07-27 and 2026-08-05; also in).

Navigation. A flock and roll rotates the group’s path twice, 90° of turn into the pass, then the reversal through vertical, so the departing line runs 270° from the original bearing.

The leader plans that geometry against jump run and the other groups on the load before boarding: turn direction and pitch-over point are chosen so the departing 270° path stays clear of jump run, other groups’ planned airspace and the opening points.

Like the pass-through, the jump spends part of its working time purely vertical and covers well under half a straight angle’s ground; the turn bends what remains, so the group works in a compact block of airspace (the project’s coaching doctrine, The Freefly Project 2026-07-27 and 2026-08-05).

Mastery track, no sign-off. Completion of this unit is a milestone, not a permission: it admits the flyer to the track’s turning through-vertical jumps within this curriculum, and nothing more. The unit’s entry standards are course-internal safety standards, 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.

Fly the flock and roll small: 2-way to start, building to 3-way and 4-way, group sizes 2–4 are the guide. Anything over 6 belongs to dedicated teams working up incrementally; a pickup group is best kept well under that.

Environment: sky, with tunnel drills (belly/back carving in both directions, belly↔back flips and layouts at speed) as preparation for the turning orientation switch. Navigation, the mid-turn handover and breakoff are sky-only skills.

Supervision: the coach leads a 2–4-way and designs every jump around the least experienced flyer (USPA SIM 5-10.E). On a coached training jump the coach is Leader 1 under the training exception; non-training flock and rolls carry two approved leaders for the belly-led handover.

Pre-requisite units

FFP-DY303 (fly a pass-through), carrying the track’s course-internal safety standards for every participant: head-down competence at crest standard for all participants (FFP-HD202 or national equivalent, e.g. the Australian the head-down crest), demonstrated competence in belly and back flying, the bail-out standard (the FFP-DY202 belly→back transition check), and weakest-orientation-first.

State the distinction between these standards and a jump permission in every briefing.

RPL route: see the RPL evidence set below. The candidate always demonstrates the bail-out standard 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 standard status against the track's course-internal safety standards: head-down competence at crest standard for all participants, both orientations, and the bail-out standard (the FFP-DY202 transition check).

1.3

Plan the 90°-turn-plus-reversal geometry against jump run and the other groups on the load, turn direction, the pitch-over point and the departing 270° path chosen so the departing line stays clear of jump run, other groups' planned airspace and the opening points, and present the flight path to the load.

1.4

Assign starting orientations weakest-orientation-first, usually belly first, and name each flyer's side of the turn, inside or outside of the arc, with the speed each side carries.

1.5

Name the leadership mechanism and the arc plan: who leads which segment, where in the turn the handover happens, and that the receiving leader sets the new arc as they pick up the lead, or, under the re-transition mechanism, that the leader retains lead, abort and arc ownership throughout the pass.

1.6

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; a second audible recommended).

2.2

Dirt-dive the full flow, exit, gather, the line out, the 90° diving turn, the pass, the departing line and breakoff, with slot allocations, each flyer's side of the arc and the transition key, naming the mismatched-arc closing-speed hazard across the handover.

2.3

Brief the abort criteria and the leadership edge cases: belly flyers not in slot on the angle = pass aborted; a scattered group = the leader steepens, then pulls back out; who owns navigation and abort through the vertical segment (under the handover, the receiving leader from the start of the segment; under the re-transition mechanism, the leader throughout); the leader-loss protocol in both windows (before the pass: pass aborted, Leader 1 steepens and pulls out, no back-flying substitute; mid-pass: no belly lead within the briefed ~2–3 s = each flyer completes their own transition over the body, holds the reciprocal line, and the jump is over); the dropped-flyer rule for the reversing geometry (once the group has passed through, no rejoining across the reciprocal, hold an offset line, follow from below on the new direction only with the group re-acquired, otherwise separate and deploy higher after checking airspace); on a coached jump, the coach as Leader 1 flying the handover only when the coach judges the student ready to receive the belly lead; and arc ownership across the handover.

2.4

Confirm exit order and separation with the load and any other movement groups (guide: two movement groups per load).

3. Perform, the flock and roll

3.1

Gather into the assigned slot and starting orientation on exit, holding position while the leader turns the group off jump run and sets the line, without passing the leader.

3.2

Fly the assigned side of the arc through the diving 90° turn, carrying speed on the outside of the arc, tempering it on the inside, holding slot and level so the formation turns as a curve, not a corner.

3.3

Transition through vertical on the leader's key mid-turn, switching orientation over the body as the group comes through and re-establishing slot and level on the departing line promptly.

3.4

Clear own airspace visually before the orientation switch, no blind transitions.

3.5

When briefed as receiving leader, take the belly lead through the pass, setting the new arc as you pick it up, owning navigation and abort from the start of the vertical segment, and pulling the group onto the departing line within ±45° of the planned 270° bearing.

3.6

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

3.7

Abort the pass when belly flyers are not in slot on the angle; on a scattered group the leader steepens, then pulls back out to a straight angle that breaks off normally.

3.8

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

3.9

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

3.10

Transition to back immediately when trapped low on the inside or outside of the turn without visual on the group, the FFP-DY202-trained recovery, regaining visual and following from below.

3.11

Apply the dropped-flyer rule after losing the group across the pass: do not rejoin across the reciprocal, hold an offset line, follow from below on the new direction only once the group is re-acquired visually, and otherwise separate and deploy higher after checking airspace.

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, holding off 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 turn on video, arc discipline on the assigned side, slot and level through the pitch-over, the orientation-switch path onto the departing line, 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. "DY304 flock and roll, outside of the arc, received the belly lead mid-turn"), criteria results and current standing against the track's safety standards, the curriculum gives log entries meaning.

Bold criteria are safety-critical: non-compensable within this course’s assessment, any Not Yet Satisfactory makes the unit Not Yet Competent, however good the rest of the flying. They are strongly recommended best-practice standards: risk treatments with stated reasons. Regulation remains your federation’s and your drop zone’s.

Foundation skills

• Briefing and debriefing communication (standards conversations, abort calls, keys, the mid-turn handover brief).
• Altitude, separation, closing-speed and arc numeracy.
• Flight-path planning across a 270° course change and organising relative to other groups.
• Self-management under stress and disorientation (flying the briefed recovery, not improvising, when the picture degrades).

Performance evidence (suggested sufficiency, adjust locally)

Ability evidenced across a guide of 8 coached Dynamic-track jumps building from the pass-through to the full flock and roll. The jump counts are a guide to how long this typically takes, not a quota, competency is the standard, not the numbers:

• At least 4 jumps including a full flock and roll, with turns flown in both directions, including two consecutive flock and rolls meeting all criteria without coach assistance or prompts.
• Both sides of the arc flown (inside and outside).
• At least 1 pass flown as the receiving leader setting the new arc (on a coached jump, under the coach-as-Leader-1 training exception).
• Across at least two different days/conditions.
• Tunnel time may substitute for up to two of the development jumps (belly/back carving in both directions, belly↔back layouts at speed), never for navigation, the handover or the assessment jumps.
• All within a recommended 6-month currency window.

Knowledge evidence

• Describe the flock-and-roll geometry, a pass-through combined with a 90° turn: the formation dives through 90° of turn, passes through vertical, and departs on a path 270° from the original bearing, and explain how the leader plans that geometry against jump run and the other groups so the departing path stays clear.
• Explain why the turn adds disorientation risk over a straight pass-through, and why every participant is momentarily flying head-down through the pass (the standards rationale).
• Explain the trapped-belly-flyer hazard, a belly flyer on the inside or outside of the turn goes low, loses sight of the group, and floats up blind through the diving formation, and its FFP-DY202-trained recovery (transition to back to regain visual and follow from below).
• Explain the dropped-flyer rule for reversing jumps: why the returning group is safe against its own earlier column (always below its earlier altitude) while a dropped flyer descending on that column can meet the returning group head-on, and the response, once the group has passed through, hold an offset line rather than rejoining across the reciprocal, follow from below on the new direction only with the group re-acquired visually.
• And otherwise separate and deploy higher after checking airspace (review-derived, adversarial review 2026-08-05).
• Explain arc doctrine across the handover: arc ownership passes with the lead.
  • The receiving leader sets the new arc as they pick up the lead.
  • The group flies the outside of that arc with speed.
  • Turns are curves, not corners.
  • And a mismatched arc across the handover is a closing-speed hazard named in the dirt-dive.
• Explain the leadership doctrine carried from FFP-DY303: the lead always on belly.
  • The two mechanisms across the pass.
  • 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.
  • And the principle that the middle person on belly is always leading.
  • The two-leader handover recommended for non-training jumps, the leader re-transitioning to belly as the coached alternative, retaining lead and abort ownership throughout the pass.
• State the four leadership edge cases briefed on every through-vertical jump: vertical-segment ownership.
  • The leader-loss protocol in both windows.
  • The coached-training exception.
  • And arc ownership passing with the lead across the mid-turn handover.
  • Under the handover, the receiving leader from the start of the segment, no leaderless gap at max speed; under the re-transition mechanism, the leader throughout.
  • Before the pass: pass aborted, Leader 1 steepens and pulls out, no back-flying substitute leader.
  • Mid-pass: if no belly lead has emerged within the briefed ~2–3 s, each flyer completes their own transition over the body, holds the reciprocal line, and the jump is over, no rebuilding.
  • The coach is Leader 1, retains the lead throughout under the re-transition mechanism, and flies the handover only when the coach judges the student ready to receive the belly lead.
• State the abort criteria (belly flyers not in slot on the angle = pass aborted; scattered group = steepen, then pull back out) and the lost-leader protocol, and explain the logic of following from below.
• Explain weakest-orientation-first as it applies to a first flock and roll: start on belly, the weaker side for most freeflyers at this stage, so the high-speed transition out of the vertical lands on the stronger side.
• State the breakoff and deployment guides, noting that most modern jumpers plan 5,500 ft for any freefly group.
  • 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 and why a functioning audible matters on through-vertical jumps, two are recommended.
• Explain why a blind transition, rotating without first clearing the airspace you are about to occupy, is the classic collision set-up, and why the response to instability is to recover in slot, never to track away (APF006 §4.3).
• 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: 2-way building to 3-way and 4-way, with groups over 6 left to dedicated teams; two movement groups per load; the jump designed around the least experienced flyer.
• Explain the distinction between the track’s course-internal safety standards and a jump permission or regulatory sign-off.

Assessment conditions

Sky jumps from a recommended 12,000 ft minimum exit (guide, turning through-vertical work needs working time), flown as a real 2–4-way.

Non-training assessment jumps carry two approved leaders for the belly-led handover; a coached assessment jump uses the coach-as-Leader-1 training exception, the handover flown only when the coach judges the candidate ready to receive the belly lead, with other passes flown under the coach’s re-transition, the coach retaining lead and abort ownership throughout.

Video of assessment jumps is required for a valid assessment (leader-, outside- or helmet-mounted; candidate identifiable). Required equipment: visual altimeter, functioning audible (second recommended), AAD recommended, freefly-suitable gear. Conditions within all participants’ cleared limits.

Assessor: a freefly coach current in dynamic/movement coaching and approved to lead movement jumps at the host drop zone, using the published FFP-DY304 checklist, each criterion marked Satisfactory / Not Yet Satisfactory, unit judgement Competent / Not Yet Competent.

The judgement is course-internal: it admits the candidate to the track’s turning through-vertical 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 coach holds the standards conversation openly before money is spent.

The coach briefs the disorientation honestly, the turn moves every reference at once, and expecting it is half the treatment, and judges readiness for the turn honestly: when readiness is in doubt, the jump flies as a straight pass-through, and the coach frames that as progress toward the roll. End each debrief on a win with one improvement focus.

RPL evidence set

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

• Logbook evidence of flock and rolls or equivalent turning through-vertical movement jumps, flown in both turn directions.
• FFP-DY303 or equivalent evidence of straight pass-through competence, carrying the track’s through-vertical standards.
• A video portfolio showing a flock and roll flown in slot through the turn and the pass (candidate identifiable).
• Tunnel records evidencing belly/back carving in both directions and belly↔back layouts at speed.
• Plus one challenge jump: a full flock and roll flown against the Element 3–4 criteria with a coach-leader.

The candidate always demonstrates the bail-out standard, the FFP-DY202 belly→back transition check, live to the coach; prior evidence alone never satisfies it.

Sources