posted Aug 11th, 2009 - The NSL News goes back to the World Games 2009, and there is a very good reason for a review.

Arizona Airspeed's Center Inside, Andy Delk, has uploaded all five rounds of his team to YouTube. The NSL News uses this great service to feature Round 5, the fast sequence of random formations where Airspeed tied the current world record with a 44-pointer.

Airspeed's Craig Girard reported already from Taiwan that all teams had "some kind of a problem with the fast sequence of random formations, either with the exit or later in the skydive". This is now the opportunity to see on video what kind of problems Airspeed had with this sequence.

The Russian 44-pointer records of 2006 (Black Cat, Extreme.RU) could have easily been broken by Airspeed without the "problems". First of all, the Arizona world champions still launched their Side Body as an exit formation, even after four successful rounds with this exit strategy, and even with a Star at the beginning of the sequence for Round 5.

The same sequence and the same jump from a Twin Otter door would have had the additional point within working time, and it would have been a 45-pointer. Airspeed used the same continuity plan as at the World Meet 2008 in France from the Pilatus Porter, where Center Inside (Andy Delk) and Center Outside (Craig Girard) switched their slots for the exits and maintained their left-hand pattern.

This strategy, plus the Side Body as a standard exit formation at the World Games, gave Airspeed the solid exits that resulted in a dominating performance in Taiwan and the 17th consecutive victory. In addition, Airspeed's videographer, Steve Nowak, delivered flawless videos and did not cause any point deductions for his team.

Airspeed could have even scored a new world record with the Side Body as the exit formation, as the video shows. There is a significant delay at the end of the first page, which took enough time for at least one additional point. Airspeed fixed the incomplete Yuan (D), then moved on and still completed the 44 points in time.

The situation at the end of the working time is interesting, as well. The jump went perfectly after the Yuan on the first page until the working time was over. The last scoring formation, the Bow (H), caused new trouble and required some Airspeed attention. Working time was over anyway, the efforts to fix the situation and move on did not matter any longer, and the Bow counted as the 44th point.

The Russian teams were lucky to keep the official world record, while Airspeed has to wait for the next opportunity.

It was coincidence that one of the world record owners, Black Cat, competed a week later at the Russian Nationals 2009. The current Airspeed lineup was not formed when Black Cat scored the 44-pointer in 2006. However, both teams met each other when Black Cat competed at the USPA Nationals last year.

Andy Delk is also the coach of the Russian team Kaktus Hunter. He did not travel to Russia, and Kaktus Hunter won the bronze medals after a jumpoff with Cross Road without him. Andy Delk was in the United Kingdom at that time and prepared a UK team for the national championships.

"The UK was a fun experience. Hibaldstow is a nice DZ, and the weather actually cooperated a bit. The team got 3 1/2 days out of the 5-day camp, so they were pretty happy. That's a rare feat in the UK apparently. It's good to be back home and settling into a time zone though..."

He found the scores from Russia on the NSL website, although he already knew that Kaktus Hunter had a jumpoff and won the bronze medals. Andy Delk will have the opportunity to travel to Russia in 2010 - if Airspeed wins the USPA Nationals this year.