posted Apr 22nd, 2008 - The NSL News goes back to the World Challenge 2008 and still connects to yesterday's story at the same time.

Airspeed Odyssey's Rounds 8 and 9 of the windtunnel competition have been uploaded, and XL's Round 8, as well. The situation before Round 8 was just as exciting as the whole race between these two world-class teams at Bodyflight Bedford.

XL was the 2-point leader after the five rounds of the first day. Airspeed Odyssey came back with full power on Sunday morning, won Round 6 by three points and had a 1-point lead. It looked like a done deal when Airspeed extended the lead to three points in Round 7. Would XL be able to hold it together?

They did, and the tied Round 8 with two 29-pointers stopped Airspeed's momentum for a round. By the way: Perris Fury and Norway Arcteryx both tied Airspeed's and XL's 29-pointers in this round, as well.

Round 9 between XL and Airspeed brought back the whole drama of the first day and of last year's exciting 1-point race between Airspeed Odyssey and Fastrax. XL had not only stopped Airspeed's momentum in Round 8. The international team then won Round 9 by three points, and it was a tie for the first place going into Round 10.

Round 9 was not a good one for Airspeed, as the scores of the other teams show. Hayabusa Defence, Arcteryx and Perris Fury all beat Airspeed's 21-pointer. Russia's Skylight Barkli, Aerokart Mamba Pamiers and Paraclete XP tied Airspeed's score. XL had the sole highscore with a 24-pointer.

Airspeed's Rounds 8 and 9 can both be watched on NSL-TV, XL's video of Round 9 is not available. The previously featured rounds of the World Challenge 2008 can now also be viewed by clicking here.

The outcome of the grande finale in Round 10 is well known. Airspeed Odyssey peaked once again at the right time, as the NSL News reported directly from the competition site on 30 March 2008.

Airspeed Odyssey, as all other national 4-way teams that will compete at this year's World Championship of Formation Skydiving in France, went straight back to outdoor training after returning from the United Kingdom. There was still a lot of work waiting to master the exits from the Pilatus Porter.

The NSL News has brought some of the challenges to the attention of the valued audience with earlier stories, especially after the Valentine's Meet 2008 and the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2008.

Yesterday's NSL News story provided more detailed information of the practical difficulties that the teams have to deal with. Airspeed Odyssey is obviously the top contender for the gold medals this year, as the US national team has already defeated all other world-class teams this year.

However, even the best team in the world is facing the same challenges from the right-hand door of the Pilatus Porter and has to master the new exit skills and the subterminal phase. It is not a walk in the park for any team, as a new video shows.

Airspeed's Center Inside, Andy Delk, put together several clips of recent Airspeed exit bloopers in Arizona. It is funny and very entertaining, probably even encouraging for other teams to see that even Airspeed has to work hard to master the Pilatus Porter exits.

These new bloopers cannot be found on Airspeed's Odyssey 2007 DVD, which is still available in the NSL Shop. The video of the bloopers has been uploaded and can only be viewed by clicking here.