posted Sep 2nd, 2016 - The Sun Path Products NSL News had introduced the 8-way Open Class field for the Mondial 2016 with the story on August 25th. A total of eight teams were officially registered at that time.

However, the currently running German Nationals 2016 include an 8-way competition, as well, where the Airbus 8-way lineup is far ahead in 1st place after seven rounds.

Airbus was not on the virgin leaderboard that introduced the 8-way teams, even though the team will also travel to Skydive Chicago very soon.

The 8-way competition at the German Nationals 2016 is taking place not even a week after the British 8-way teams completed their ten rounds at Skydive Hibaldstow, where Microclim8 won with a 13.5 average.

UK Nationals 2016		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open	N,21,6	G,B,K,20	H,4,M,O	9,Q,15	3,J,19	18,22,10	17,12,L	C,P,7,F	A,11,E,2	D,1,8	Total	Avg
1	Microclim8	13	14	16	13	14	13	12	14	12	14	135	13.5
2	Ex-Presidents	12	12	13	13	12	11	11	11	10	7	112	11.2
3	ZKR	10	10	10	10	6	8	9	9	8	9	89	8.9
4	Project Ride the Dragon	9	10	10	9	8	9	4	9	7	6	81	8.1
5	Awkward Turtles	7	8	9	7	9	8	5	7	4	5	69	6.9
6	Brownian Motion	7	6	5	5	4	3	5	6	4	5	50	5.0

The 8-way competition in the United Kingdom pitched the same two teams back at each other that battled for the gold medals last year. It was a 5-point upset when the Ex-Presidents defeated the British national 8-way team of 2014, Microclim8.

Microclim8 was better prepared this year, as the British 8-way team will once again compete at the upcoming World Championship of Formation Skydiving. It was a 23-point difference between the same two British 8-way top contenders to the advantage of Microclim8 this time.

Additional good news came with the update from Skydive Hibaldstow, as well. The Sun Path Products NSL News had recently posted a cry-for-help banner on the front page, which was related to the Fun Flag and had to stay at the prominent spot only for a few hours before the desired information became available. The Fun Flag seems to be on the way to Skydive Chicago...

UK Nationals 2015		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	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

The recent 8-way scores bring back an interesting competition between the British and the German 8-way teams at world meets. Both countries have competed with and against each

Rank	Mondial 2016 - 8way Open Field
1	Golden Knights	US
2	Tanay	RU
3	France	FR
4	Qatar Falcons	QA
5	Microclim8	UK
6	Airbus	DE
7	Australia	AU
8	Maximum Ride	CA
9	Brazil	BR

other at 13 of the 16 FAI World Championships of Formation Skydiving since 1985, and Germany has a 10 : 3 lead.

The German national 8-way teams have actually placed three times right behind the medal positions in 4th place in the last 12 years (2004 - 2008 - 2012) while missing the world meets in 2010 and 2014.

Airbus and Microclim8 both consist of very experienced 4-way and 8-way competitors, and some of them have competed at all world meets since 2004. Germany has won all duels ever since, however, the current Airbus lineup is facing trouble this time, as Microclim8 posted a 13.5 average a week ago, while Airbus is standing at 12.9 after Round 7. It seems like an exciting new battle for the 4th or 5th place can be expected very soon...