posted Sep 5th, 2015 - The 4-way competition was completed after ten rounds in Germany, and the 8-way teams have been in action for a few hours after the last round in 4-way on Thursday, and for the whole Friday.

There is no serious competition for the best German 8-way team, Airbus Munchen, the defending champion with a new lineup this year. The Airbus 8-way lineup now consists of the complete Airbus Illertissen and FSC Remscheid 4-way teams.

Team Sudwest has been training for several years, also with changing lineups, and tries once again to get within striking distance of the dominating German 4-way and 8-way competitors of the past years. Sudwest could have benefitted from an Airbus meltdown in Round 5. However, the team's own weak Round 3 did not allow Sudwest to take full advantage of the Airbus damage.

German Nationals 2015		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open	5,16,21	12,J,13	3,18,8	4,19,14	22,B,2	11,9,D	O,Q,K,15	L,6,A,E	20,7,N	M,10,17	Total	Avg
1	Airbus Munchen	13	13	13	14	6	12	-	-	-	-	71	11.8
2	Sudwest 8	12	11	8	12	10	11	-	-	-	-	64	10.7
3	Wolf Pack NeVa	6	5	4	9	4	6	-	-	-	-	34	5.7

The 8-way competition in Germany was not expected to offer a tight competition. There are not many countries with more than one highly competitive 8-way team in the Open Class. The international 8-way competition is more a virtual one, as the national 8-way teams in the world are eying each other’s performances until they meet at the major events.

The upcoming FAI World Cup 2015 is the next major event, and the 8-way competition in Teuge recently suffered two major blows, unfortunately. Golden Knights and Thund8rbirds both withdrew from the event for different reasons, and their scores cannot even be used for indirect comparison.

The remaining six 8-way teams in Teuge will still be under virtual scrutiny of the other 8-way teams in the world, which include Airbus Munchen. The German 8-way team will compete at the Mondial 2016 with the same lineup. AtomiX is the only German team traveling from Saarlouis straight to Teuge

UK Nationals 2015			Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		9,D,12	K,15,G,L	7,A,2	B,22,20	11,N,4	M,H,C,5	21,19,10	1,8,E	O,F,P,13	18,J,16	Total	Avg
1	Ex-Presidents		11	15	10	13	15	13	11	12	14	15	129	12.9
2	Microclim8		10	13	10	12	14	14	12	13	11	15	124	12.4
3	Thunderbirds		9	12	10	9	10	10	6	11	9	13	99	9.9
4	Awkward Turtles		4	2	5	4	2	5	5	4	6	2	39	3.9

There is one country, which had a serious national 8-way competition in the Open Class not too long ago. In fact, the reigning UK 8-way champion and national team of 2014, Microclim8, was recently dethroned by a new British 8-way team, the Ex-Presidents.

M8trix, the national 8-way team of the Netherlands, has surely been observing the 8-way competitions in the UK and in Germany carefully. M8trix just posted a 13.6 average at the national championships and will follow up next week at the World Cup. M8trix will compete for the Netherlands next year at Skydive Chicago, where Airbus Munchen and UK's 8-way team will be their direct opponents. M8trix seems to be slightly ahead at this point in time.

The most exciting 8-way competition actually takes place in the Intermediate Class of the German National 2015. It is just as much a horse race, as the AA Class teams had in the 4-way event.

German Nationals 2015		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Intermediate	K,10	B,3	G,7	D,5	J,9	C,4	E,2	A,8	H,1	F,6	Total	Avg
1	Schorle 8er	5	4	6	7	8	7	-	-	-	-	37	6.2
2	Fast Motion	5	5	6	6	8	5	-	-	-	-	35	5.8
3	Skypac	6	6	6	7	4	4	-	-	-	-	33	5.5
3	MeightO	6	4	6	6	6	5	-	-	-	-	33	5.5
3	Luftschl8 - FSZ Kassel	3	5	6	6	8	5	-	-	-	-	33	5.5
6	HorschD's 8 - FSZ Saar	2	3	5	5	7	5	-	-	-	-	27	4.5
7	Sag ich doch nicht	2	0	3	2	5	5	-	-	-	-	17	2.8
8	Hi-Tag	3	3	3	3	1	0	-	-	-	-	13	2.3