posted Feb 23rd, 2015 - The Sun Path Products NSL News brought three topics of the Formation Skydiving competition rules to the attention of the audience since December 2014.

The first one on 23 December 2014 explained that international competitors have a unique opportunity in the 2-year cycle from one World Championship of Formation Skydiving to the next one. The time period between 2014 and 2016 allows a change from one national team to another one without sitting out for one world meet.

The second topic was a proposal to change Block 10 (Diamond - Bunyip), which was discussed the last time on 27 December 2014. Last but not least, the story on 14 January 2015 evaluated the proposal to change the tie-breaking procedures.

The delegates of the International Parachuting Commission (IPC) met at the end of January in Bulgaria and had the final word on all topics, except on the eligibility rule, which was decided upon earlier by a different plenum.

Trude Sviggum, member of Norway's former national team in 4-way Women, Polaris, and Chair of the IPC Formation Skydiving Committee, informed the Sun Path Products NSL News after the meeting that the two proposals (Block 10 and tie-breaking procedure) did not find the support of a majority in the IPC plenum.

Block 10 remains the same as it has been for many years, and the current tie-breaking procedures will continue to consider the strongest performance and the fastest completion of the last formation at the end of the competition.

There was another topic that relates only indirectly to the rules. The Dubai International Parachuting Championship event (DIPC) takes a break this year, and there is a good reason for the interruption of the usually annual event.

It's not the first time that the DIPC steps back for a year. The World Championship of Formation Skydiving, which was a part of the Mondial 2012, was hosted by Skydive Dubai at the same time of the year when the DIPC takes place.

This year's situation is very similar, and the next DIPC will have to wait until 2016. This time, Skydive Dubai is hosting the World Air Games in December 2015, which will also include a competition in Formation Skydiving.

The World Air Games have a different format and different rules for participation. Trude Sviggum provided the general definition of the event.

The FAI World Air Games, conducted under the rules of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), is the premier international multi-discipline air sports event fielding the world’s top Air Sports athletes. The FAI’s primary goals for this event are to determine “FAI World Air Games Champions”; to showcase air sports to the general public and promote public participation in air sports by attracting new participants to air sports disciplines; to promote FAI events to other sports organizations and create an attractive platform for TV, media and other external stakeholders.

The past editions of the World Air Games took place in Turkey (1997), Spain (2001) and Italy (2009). The next event in Dubai is a showcase for the best teams and competitors in the world and is invitational only. The invitations will be based on the results of the FAI World Championship of Formation Skydiving 2014, and the host may have one additional team in every discipline.

Ten teams will be invited in 4-way Open, six in 4-way Women and six in 8-way. There is no VFS event scheduled.

The 4-way competition was canceled at the last World Air Games in 2009, as the Sun Path Products NSL News reported on 25 February 2009, due to "a financial crisis". Chances for a successful execution in Dubai are much better...