Dynamic 303 — Fly a pass-through

The checklist

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 line off jump run in a direction where it is safe to return back the same way, the leader picks the line so the reciprocal is clear of jump run, other groups' planned airspace and the opening points, and presents the flight path to the load.

1.4

Assign starting orientations weakest-orientation-first: each flyer starts on their weaker side, usually belly, so a student's first pass-through almost always starts on belly.

1.5

Name the leadership mechanism for the jump, the two-leader belly-led handover (recommended for non-training jumps) or the leader re-transitioning to belly across the pass (the alternative, e.g. on coached jumps, under which the leader retains lead and abort ownership throughout the pass), with the lead on belly at all times.

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 outbound line, the pitch-over point, the orientation switch, the return line and breakoff, with slot allocations and the transition key.

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 wherever a turn is planned (FFP-DY304).

2.4

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

3. Perform, the pass-through

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

Hold slot and level on the outbound line as the leader steepens toward the pitch-over, matching the leader's speed and pitch changes.

3.3

Transition through vertical on the leader's pitch-over, switching orientation over the body as the group comes through and re-establishing slot and level on the return 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, owning navigation and abort from the start of the vertical segment, acquiring the new sight picture as the group comes through, and pulling the group onto the return line within ±45° of the reciprocal heading.

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 low on belly 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 pass on video, slot and level through the pitch-over, the orientation-switch path, closing speed on the return 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. "DY303 pass-through, received the belly lead through the vertical"), criteria results and current standing against the track's safety standards, the curriculum gives log entries meaning.

Criteria in bold are safety-critical: they protect the flyer and everyone else in the group. A coach should not sign off the course 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 12,000 ft or higher (recommended), because through-vertical work needs the working time.
• Each assessment jump is flown as a real 2–4-way.
• A jump outside training carries two approved leaders for the belly-led handover. A coached assessment jump uses the coach as Leader 1: the handover is flown only when the coach judges the flyer ready to receive the belly lead, and other passes fly under the coach’s re-transition, with the coach keeping the lead and the abort call throughout.
• Video of every assessment jump is required for a valid assessment: leader-flown, outside or helmet-mounted, with the flyer identifiable.
• Equipment: a visual altimeter, a working audible (a second recommended), an AAD (recommended) and freefly-suitable gear.
• Conditions within every participant’s cleared limits.
• The assessor is a freefly coach current in dynamic or movement coaching and approved to lead movement jumps at the host drop zone, using this checklist.
• Each criterion is marked Satisfactory or Not Yet Satisfactory. The result is internal to this course: it opens the track’s through-vertical jumps in this curriculum and gives no licence, crest, endorsement or jump permission.
• The flyer always shows the Dynamic 202 belly-to-back transition live to the coach. Prior evidence alone never covers it.
• As a guide, it takes about 8 coached jumps, at least 4 with a full pass-through and one as receiving leader, over at least two days or conditions within six months.
• Tunnel carving and belly-to-back flips and layouts at speed can replace up to two jumps. Navigation, the handover and assessment jumps are sky only.
• If you already fly pass-throughs, your coach can assess your record and one full pass-through with a coach leading, and you always show the Dynamic 202 belly-to-back transition live.

Coaching priorities

Safety first, then fun, then learning. Hold the bold criteria to the standard above, and have the standards conversation openly before the flyer spends money on jumps.

Explain weakest-orientation-first at the start as a safety decision. Judge honestly whether the flyer is ready to receive the belly lead. If not, fly the pass under your re-transition or keep the jump a straight angle, and present either as progress toward taking the lead.

End each debrief on something that went well, with one thing to improve. The first completed pass-through is the start of through-vertical flying.

• APF Freefly and Angles Guide (APF006): recovering in slot without tracking away (§4.3), the peel-off breakoff without turning in place, transitions over the body and fly zones on the angle (§5.10–5.13).
• APF Operational Regulations: separation, the freefly rules and the tracking-and-angles rules (OR 9.1.4, 9.2, 9.9).
• USPA Skydiver’s Information Manual 5-10: the movement-jump grading by transitions, groups per load, matching the jump to its least experienced flyer, and rolling from back to belly at breakoff only when clear.
• Newcastle Sport Parachute Club, Hunter Valley angle and movement jump guidelines: movement groups per load, cloud, the leader’s approval and the navigation brief with the load master.
• Community coaching on movement-jump leadership and safety: Christy West and Skydive Spaceland on leader duties and designing for the least experienced flyer, Skydive Arizona on back-fly, and Mason Corby on transitions in angle jumps and at breakoff.
• The Freefly Project’s coaching guides: the pass-through flow, weakest-orientation-first, the belly-led handover and re-transition, the leadership edge cases, the footprint and cork-point reasoning, the abort criteria and lost-leader protocol, the mid-pass leader-loss and dropped-flyer lines, and the freefly breakoff guides.

Regulations change, so each rule is given as context for where you jump. No national body defines prerequisites or safety standards for sky dynamic.

• Australia (APF). These descents sit under OR 9.9 (tracking and angles): a Certificate Class C, the DZSO’s written endorsement for groups larger than a 3-way, and an approved leader (OR 9.9.3). An APF Freefly Coach can lead under OR 9.9.3 with DZSO approval.
• A functioning audible altimeter is mandatory on every freefly descent (OR 9.2.3). All groups separate at least 1,000 ft above planned deployment (OR 9.1.4).
• Mixed-orientation through-vertical jumps fall between the OR 9.2 crest requirements and the OR 9.9 endorsements, which leaves them to DZSO discretion. This course’s through-vertical standard is set stricter than that floor.
• Hunter Valley (Newcastle Sport Parachute Club) sets no more than two movement groups per load without DZSO approval, no movement jumps in or near cloud, and a DZSO-approved belly leader for every movement group.
• USA. USPA SIM 5-10 grades movement jumps by transition count (0, 1–3, 4+). A single pass, one transition per flyer, sits in the middle band. The difficulty is in the steepness and the transition hazard that SIM 5-10.E warns about, the same section that asks for an expert leader.
• UK. British Skydiving FF2 is an example of a national head-down equivalent.
• Elsewhere, check your national body and drop zone for the equivalent. Any drop zone may adopt this course’s standards as local policy.

Acronym key. APF, Australian Parachute Federation. OR, the APF Operational Regulations. DZSO, drop zone safety officer. USPA SIM, the United States Parachute Association Skydiver’s Information Manual.