posted May 15th, 2017 - OK, we're talking about invasions this month, let's see. I know about the Sebastian Invasion in the winter, by skydivers from the northern areas of the United States, originally started by Cross Keys skydivers. Then there is an Asian invasion of Australia that I don't know anything about. And then there is the Belgian Invasion.

Yes, Belgium: the small country in the heart of Europe, hosting the government of the European Union in Brussels, the country's capital city.

I have given NMP PCH HayaBusa, Belgium's reigning indoor and outdoor 4-way world champions, enough attention with the Sun Path Products NSL News over the years. Even Turning Points covered the team in the summer of 2012, when they had become a serious contender for gold medals in Dubai.

They did not win that year but it seemed to be only a matter of time when it would happen. Then it took two more years until they became 4-way world champions and they defended the top spot successfully in 2016 with a new team member. Enough of that, at least for now, as they are aiming for the third set of FAI gold medals in 2018.

TURNING POINTS: Belgian Invasion

So, HayaBusa has invaded the 4-way world, but did anybody think that Belgium could also produce an 8-way team at the same time that would become dangerous? I didn't - at least not until HayaBusa decided to enter the 8-way world as well.

The same three HayaBusa members who won gold medals in 2014 and 2016 (Dennis Praet, David and Andy Grauwels) and new Belgian 4-way world champion Jeroen "Bob" Nollet may have been bored when they came up with the idea to start an 8-way project with the Thund8rbirds, a Belgian/Dutch combination in 2016.

The six Belgian 8-way members eventually decided to add two more Belgians to the lineup and continue the 8-way project with the Fly-In Machine 44, which is now eligible to compete as a national team for Belgium at FAI events.

That so far is all about the Belgian team projects. Let's get to the invasion now.

French Indoor Nationals 2017			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		10,12,A	21,E,9	M,J,22,G	15,6,Q	4,N,14	19,2,F	18,A,16	D,20,3	B,17,8	P,13,K,1	Total	Avg
1	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	26	36	37	33	29	32	29	30(-2)	29(-1)	32	313	31.3
2	Weembi Lille	FR	26	34	35(-1)	33	29	31	28	28(-1)	27(-4)	29	300	30.0
3	French Weembi Girls	FR	26	32	33	29	25	29	27	25	29	28	283	28.3
4	RealFly-Sion	FR	22	32	33	27	24	28	26	27	29	26	274	27.4
5	Gavroche Weembi	FR	21	28	32	25	24	27	23	22	24	24	250	25.0
6	Espoir Saumur Weembi	FR	21	30	29	23	21	28	24	22	24	25	247	24.7
7	Echochamber	SE	21	31	28	21	23	26	24	22	24	23	243	24.3
8	Tenanine	FR	19	29	26	23	22	23	18	22	22	22	226	22.6
9	Wom'in PCP Bouloc	FR	18	26	28	24	19	22	19	20	22	21	219	21.9
10	Amnesya Fly-In	IT	17	25	27	25	21	20	20	20	22	20	217	21.7
11	ISR FireFlash	BE	18	26	22	23	21	22	20	22	21	21	216	21.6
12	Odin	FR	19	25	21	22	19	21	18	18	21	21	205	20.5
13	ACM	UK	18	24	20	22	20	21	20	21	20	15	201	20.1
14	Monaco 4	FR	16	26	23	19	19	21	16	17	19	19	195	19.5
15	Ookpik Armee de Terre	FR	17	22	24	19	19	19	19	18	17	19	193	19.3
16	Flyzone Les Affranchis	FR	17	24	22	19	16	20	16	17	19	16	186	18.6
17	Maubeuge Espoir Weembi	FR	14	22	20	17	16	22	19	15	17	20	182	18.2
18	Flyspot Sky4four	PL	16	21	22	15	19	19	14	18	18	16	178	17.8
19	Arcadia	FR	14	21	21	17	16	17	17	14	18	17	172	17.2
20	Hemera	FR	13	22	19	18	16	16	15	16	16	17	168	16.8
21	Shamaloutre	FR	13	19	22	18	18	18	9	12	16	15	160	16.0
21	Corbas Coyotes JCM	FR	16	19	16	18	14	16	16	16	15	14	160	16.0
23	Airbivores Annecy	FR	14	21	18	15	16	17	13	15	12	17	158	15.8
24	Les Zebreches	FR	12	19	18	14	15	16	12	11	14	14	145	14.5
25	Vive La Chute Hmmm Shamal	FR	13	18	16	13	13	14	10	12	13	13	135	13.5

There is France, which I have called one of the three formation-skydiving powerhouses in the past, together with the United States and Russia. French 4- and 8-way teams have collected about as many FAI medals as the U.S. teams in the modern history of the sport (since 1985), and even earlier - and they keep doing this.

France recently held the Indoor Nationals 2017 at Weembi, a new wind tunnel in Lille. The French national 4-way teams (French Weembi Girls in 4-way Women and RealFly-Sion in 4-way Open) both tried to get closer to HayaBusa's 4-way lineup, which turned out to be as difficult as before.

Even the new French national indoor 4-way team, Weembi Lille, with four 4-way world champions of 2014 and 2010 (Roy Janssen, Julien Degen, Mathieu and Guillaume Bernier) were not able to challenge HayaBusa seriously on their home turf. That was the first invasion, which was not really a surprise, as HayaBusa is the reigning indoor and outdoor world champions.

France has also been as strong in 8-way as in 4-way in the past, and all of the 8-way world champions of 2006 - 2010 were present at Weembi. They did not compete together to defend their home turf and showed up in several other 4- and 8-way lineups. The last time they competed together was at the Clash of Champions 2015 indoor competition where they finished with a 27.9 average.

French Indoor Nationals 2017			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way		18,10,3	C,J,4,13	5,N,A,7	2,G,M,19	21,E,8	Q,P,F,16	B,H,17,L	K,9,6	O,1,15	11,12,D	Total	Avg
1	Fly-In Machine 44	BE	27	29	25	24	20	42	29	27	36	35	294	29.4
2	Weembi Girls	FR	23	26	23	21	20	30	24	23	26	26	242	24.2
3	Veloce QRF	FR	22	23	21	19	19	30	24	23	26	26	233	23.3
4	Ibmeews	FR	19	22	18	16	18	29	20	21	23	21	207	20.7
5	Boshido	FR	18	20	16	17	16	24	20	20	21	21	193	19.3
6	VAirmaxxx Véloce	FR	19	16	17	16	16	25	17	18	23	22	189	18.9
7	Shamalairlouche Clermont	FR	18	16	16	16	16	27	20	18	18	19	184	18.4
8	Monaco 8	MC	15	20	17	11	11	22	18	16	19	18	167	16.7
9	Team Hell Veloce	FR	16	14	14	17	15	24	10	17	20	19	166	16.6
10	8way Donut PCP	FR	16	17	13	13	13	20	15	17	18	14	156	15.6
11	Weemay	FR	15	12	13	13	14	15	16	17	17	11	143	14.3
12	Skolems	FR	11	8	10	9	11	15	10	10	11	9	104	10.4

The Belgian invasion in 8-way was more than remarkable with a 29.4 average after 10 rounds and it put Belgian teams to the top of both formation skydiving leaderboards for a sweep on French Weembi home turf. Belgium - with teams winning in 4-way and 8-way in France! I call this a very successful invasion...

It's not over here, and now I am relating to this month's article, "Australia's Asian Invasion". There could also be a Belgian invasion of Australia next year. Gold Coast is hosting the FAI World Championship of Formation Skydiving in 2018 where NMP PCH HayaBusa and the Fly-In Machine 44 might both compete for Belgium.

There is no doubt that HayaBusa is the top contender for 4-way gold, and the Belgian 8-way lineup will have chances for medals, as well. Probably not for gold in 8-way, where the Golden Knights seem to be out of reach. Are they... ? Belgium will not have a medal contender in 4-way Women, even though new 8-way member Maya Van Campenhout demonstrates the Belgian girl power. Belgium - wow... Do I have to add the small country to the list of formation skydiving powerhouses now...?