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DY403 Flyer
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Dynamic · Mastery · The jump

Dynamic 403

Fly eagles

Eagles: passing another flyer over or under, on a call.

What this unit covers

Covers flying eagles: two dynamic flyers facing each other initiate movement toward each other and pass over or under each other in vertical, opposing orientations, the static eagle taken into movement.
The jump carries real dangers and complexities, two flyers converging head-on at vertical speeds, and is best flown as a 2-way. That is the format of this unit. The reference flow:
The rest of it
Exit head-down unlinked.
Turn to face each other.
Push toward each other. The leader judges who is higher and who is lower and signals the follower over or under.
The follower initiates a high-speed front or back layout accordingly. Then, with both flyers head-up, the leader signals "come to me".
As the flyers close, the leader again judges above or below and signals, and the follower initiates the front or back layout to pass over or under. Both flyers maintain eye contact throughout every approach and pass. In the attack-the-centre family this is the front attack with eagle: flyers converge head-on with no lateral offset; the higher flyer passes over through belly, the lower under through back, a VFS eagle, with constant mutual visual contact; the leader signals over or under, and the decision is committed early. The FAI Annex B taxonomy names the family, the vertical orbits, eagles and reverse eagles, and the half-eagle equivalences with named transitions, and the unit briefs and debriefs in that vocabulary (FAI/ISC Dynamic Competition Rules 2025, Annex B). The training aim is internalisation. The follower learns the pattern, when a transition passes over or under, through belly or back, with a front or back layout, until it becomes intuitive and can be flown without a signal: the follower reads the leader's relative height on approach and the leader's body movement, opposes that movement, and transitions vertically around the leader while maintaining eye contact, vertical displacement and relativity. The manoeuvre demands significant tunnel skill. Both flyers demonstrate the entry standard before the first eagle jump: static eagles through belly and back, and front and back layouts at high speed. An eagle jump is nearly vertical, it consumes a column of air only slightly larger than a purely vertical jump, and the leader states this to the load organiser when coordinating groups. Competition pathways, indoor Dynamic 2-way/4-way, 2-way Mixed Formation Skydiving (MFS) and Vertical Formation Skydiving (VFS), whose dive pools carry inter-orientation transitions, the closest competition vocabulary to the eagle, are context for continued development. Applies to flyers competent in mirroring (DY 402) who hold the entry standard above. Environment: sky. The entry standard is tunnel-built, and tunnel time remains preparation and calibration only: it exercises no jump run, navigation, altitude or breakoff. Supervision: flown as a 2-way with an experienced dynamic partner, a coach or an experienced eagle flyer takes the leader slot first. The progression runs from following a signalling leader, to reading the passes without a signal, to flying the leader role with an experienced partner opposite. This is a Mastery-tier unit: there is no sign-off. Completion is a milestone recognising eagle capability, it is not a permission, and it does not authorise any jump.

What comes before it

Screen 2 · What you are watched on

What you are watched on

The same short list a coach ticks, in the same words. Nothing is hidden from you.

3.2 Safety critical
Maintain eye contact with the other flyer through every approach, pass and rejoin.

Do you hold eye contact with the other flyer through every approach, pass and rejoin?

3.4 Safety critical
Commit the over/under call early on every approach; on a missed or late call, an ambiguous height read or conflicting movement, both flyers abort the pass and break to their pre-assigned offset sides, never force a crossing, and never resolve height ambiguity inside the closure.

Do you commit the over or under call early, and abort the pass on any ambiguity or late call?

3.11 Safety critical
Begin no pass below the last-pass floor, breakoff altitude plus 1,000 ft.

Do you start no pass below the last-pass floor, which is breakoff altitude plus 1,000 feet?

Screen 3 · Safety and altitudes

Safety and altitudes

Everything here is a recommendation with a reason behind it, not a rule. The drop zone you are jumping at, and your own limits on the day, decide what actually happens.

Safety-critical criteria on the short list

3.2
Maintain eye contact with the other flyer through every approach, pass and rejoin.

Do you hold eye contact with the other flyer through every approach, pass and rejoin?

3.4
Commit the over/under call early on every approach; on a missed or late call, an ambiguous height read or conflicting movement, both flyers abort the pass and break to their pre-assigned offset sides, never force a crossing, and never resolve height ambiguity inside the closure.

Do you commit the over or under call early, and abort the pass on any ambiguity or late call?

3.11
Begin no pass below the last-pass floor, breakoff altitude plus 1,000 ft.

Do you start no pass below the last-pass floor, which is breakoff altitude plus 1,000 feet?

Everything this unit says about breakoff and deployment

1.5
State the breakoff plan, breakoff altitude, the last-pass floor (no pass begun below breakoff plus 1,000 ft), 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 passes make this a head-up movement jump and raise the floor to 6,000 ft minimum).
4.1
Initiate breakoff at the briefed altitude (within −0/+300 ft), rotating from head-up to a head-first orientation first if the jump ends head-up, 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.

Altitudes here are the guides this curriculum recommends and argues for. Where the drop zone briefs something different, the drop zone is what you fly.

Screen 4 · After the jump

After the jump

From this unit's own closing element, review.

5.1
Debrief every pass against the plan on video, in the shared vocabulary, over or under, through belly or back, front or back layout, eagle or reverse eagle.
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 follower's reading of each pass, how much was flown on the signal and how much read from the leader's relative height and body movement, setting the next jump's signal reliance toward passes flown intuitively, without a signal, with eye contact, vertical displacement and relativity maintained.
5.4
Log the jump in the logbook naming the unit and skills flown (e.g. "DY403, over through belly, back layout under"), with criteria results and a short reflection, the curriculum is what makes the log entry meaningful.

One fault, one correction

Before the video, before anyone else speaks: name the single thing that went wrong, and the single thing you will do differently next jump. One of each. A list of six is a list you will not fly.

Write them into your notes at the bottom of this card, and they will be here next time you open it.

Record this jump

Most records are the flyer's own, and that is the point: your own read of your own flying is worth keeping. A record only counts as verified once a coach signs it.

Your notes for this unit

Saved on this device only. Nothing is sent anywhere, there is nowhere for it to go, and no account is involved. They will be here next time you open this card.

This card is a summary. The full Dynamic 403 unit carries the reasoning, the sources and everything left off here. All briefing cards.