Dynamic 404 — Combine following, mirroring and eagles

The checklist

1. Plan the jump

1.1

Design the combination line segment-by-segment in the shared FAI Dynamic vocabulary and the track's own terms, the mixed snake named move by move, the head-up component's angle/accordion arrangement, and the offset eagle, so every participant briefs from one language.

1.2

Grade the planned jump by transition count (0 / 1–3 / 4+) and group size, matching the grade to the least experienced participant.

1.3

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, the bail-out standard (the FFP-DY202 transition check) and weakest-orientation-first.

1.4

Plan the flight path off the jump run with a landmark reference for every component, coordinated with every other group on the load (a guide: no more than two movement groups per load, a possible exception being a very experienced, mostly-vertical dynamic group, which consumes little more air than a vertical jump), noting that the offset eagle sends the group back beside the line it has already flown.

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).

2. Prepare

2.1

Brief and dirt-dive the line at tempo in the shared vocabulary, confirming each flyer's slot lane, each flyer's offset-eagle side, the key for each component change, and the landmark at which every transition happens.

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

Exit unlinked into the head-down carve, or move to clear the jump run and flock-and-roll into the carve, establishing the group close, tight and on level.

3.2

Fly the following component: follow the leader through the mixed snake, copying the leader's moves across orientations while holding the lane, level (within a head height) and spacing at the briefed tempo.

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.

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.

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.

3.6

Clear the target airspace visually before every transition, layout and component change, no blind moves.

3.7

Manage speed and pitch to arrest closure on the group, slowing on any overtake, never turning 180° to the group's heading.

3.8

Keep the group's line 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.

3.9

Execute the briefed recovery on any instability: orient with the group, regain speed, return to the angle of attack, move aside and re-approach, never track away; a flyer separated before the reversal transitions to back and follows from below.

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. Complete

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.

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 line component-by-component against the plan on video, in the shared vocabulary.

5.2

Analyse own execution against competition-derived quality criteria: closeness of passes, synchronisation, uniformity of body position, no loss of balance.

5.3

Evaluate the flown difficulty against the briefed grade, setting the next jump's components and transition count accordingly.

5.4

Log the jump in the logbook naming the unit and components flown (e.g. "DY404, mixed snake, head-up component, offset eagle"), 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 on the load. At Mastery tier there is no sign-off, but a coach should not record the milestone 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 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.

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.

• FAI/ISC Competition Rules, Indoor Skydiving Dynamic 2-Way and 4-Way (2025): the snakes, verticals and mixers, in-face and out-face carves, eagles, difficulty factors, free-routine execution criteria, and the competition formats.
• USPA Skydiver’s Information Manual 5-10 (§6-12 in the 2023-24 edition): the movement-jump skill matrix, grading by transitions and group size, back-fly at breakoff, movement groups per load, and designing to the least experienced flyer. SIM 6-2 (2023-24): the corking speed difference and freefly equipment.
• APF Freefly and Angles Guide (APF006, August 2023): the recovery position for tracking and angles, “do not track away”, angle speeds, transitions over the body, and the burble contrast.
• APF Angle Flying Competition Rule Book, the USPA and FAI formation dive pools, and the IBA Flight Skills Progression dynamic levels.
• Skydive Mag, “Full Front Layout”: layout technique.
• Christy West (Spaceland) on the moving group’s responsibility for straight-down groups, and Skydive Arizona’s leader-mirror rule.
• Body Piloting Championships judging on blind moves, and the coaching structures of Downunder Dynamics, Fluid Dynamics and Airwax.
• Jake Carlton, “Head Up Angles and the Breakoff Problem” (Skydive Mag): head-up breakoff separation and the 6,500–7,000 ft window.
• Newcastle Sport Parachute Club, Hunter Valley angle and movement jump guidelines: movement groups per load, the load master briefing, cloud, and the leader’s approval and orientation.
• The Freefly Project’s coaching standards: the combination dive flow and track vocabulary, small-group sizes, the belly-leader handover, the challenge jump, the offset-eagle lanes and dropped-flyer rules, 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 defines or regulates sky dynamic, and none examines it. The word appears once in APF guidance, as a trajectory label (APF006 p.5). Assessor calibration relies on The Freefly Project’s published standardisation notes.
• Australia (APF). These jumps sit across OR 9.2 and OR 9.9, and the DZSO resolves the mix. Under OR 9.2, an FFC-HU or FFC-HD is required for head-up or head-down groups larger than 3, and a functioning audible is mandatory on every freefly descent (OR 9.2.3).
• Under OR 9.9, tracking and angles need a Certificate Class C, the DZSO’s written endorsement for groups larger than a 3-way, and an approved leader. A Star Crest is required for any RW larger than 10 (OR 9.1.3). The assessor is an APF Freefly Coach.
• United States (USPA). These are advanced movement jumps (SIM 5-10, formerly 6-12), with the leader at least C-licence qualified. Follow your federation’s rules and your drop zone’s movement-jump policy.

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