posted Aug 27th, 2017 - NSL-TV has not yet featured all meet videos of the reigning 4-way world champions from Belgium at the FAI World Cup 2017. The first two HayaBusa rounds were uploaded during the competition, and the additional three rounds have now been added to the meet video.

Only four rounds counted for the official final rankings, as a few 4-way Open Class teams were not able to get in the air for Round 5, including SDC Rhythm XP. However, the new HayaBusa video includes all five rounds that the Belgians did in Saarlouis.

Round 5 was actually the best HayaBusa round, as the unofficial leaderboard with the scoring numbers in Round 5 is showing. RealFly-Sion, the French national team in 4-way Open was only one point behind HayaBusa after Round 4. The Belgian lead would have gone up to six points after Round 5, where the reigning world champions finally showed their real strength.

The new video is not only showing HayaBusa's Round 5. Along with it also comes the meet video of the Fly-In Machine 44's three rounds in 8-way, which have neither been featured so far.

FAI World Cup 2017			1	2	3	4	(5)	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open - Top 10		L,O,F,K,11	C,3,7	13,2,G	1,17,20	(5,E,21)	Total	Avg
1	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	35	26	21	20	(28)	102	25.5
2	RealFly-Sion	FR	35	26	20	20	(23)	101	25.3
3	SDC Rhythm XP	US	33	24	20	16	(-)	93	23.3
4	Black Cat	RU	26	24	17	18	(24)	85	21.3
5	bUSA Defiance	US	26	22	16	17	(19)	81	20.3
6	Airbus	DE	27	21	17	15	(19)	80	20.0
7	Espoir Saumur Weembi	FR	25	19	16	18	(16)	78	19.5
8	Papea Masculino	ES	26	19	12	14	(18)	71	17.8
8	ISR FireFlash	BE	24	18	14	15	(19)	71	17.8
8	Barguzin	RU	24	15	17	15	(19)	71	17.8

The FAI World Cup was the second test of NMP PCH HayaBusa's double duties in 4-way and 8-way competition at the same event. The first one was the indoor competition at the French Indoor Nationals 2017.

HayaBusa's 8-way project is still under evaluation, as the Belgian 4-way world champions don't want to jeopardize their 4-way performance at the FAI World Championship of Formation Skydiving 2018, where they will be aiming at the third consecutive set of 4-way gold medals.

The teams who had 4-way and 8-way double duties at the FAI Mondial last year at Skydive Chicago (Black Cat from Russia, Airbus from Germany) suffered probably more from the meet pressure and the schedule than they had expected, and the performance may have suffered, as well.

The Belgian experiences at the FAI World Cup 2017 will be difficult to use for a realistic evaluation since the weather did not allow the completion of all rounds.

Facts are that NMP PCH HayaBusa finished in 1st place, and the Fly-In Machine 44 won the bronze medals over France in 8-way. The main question is whether the 4-way performance was convincing enough to justify the additional 8-way rounds or not.

FAI World Cup 2017			1	2	3	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		L,O,F,K,11	C,3,7	13,2,G	Total	Avg
1	Golden Knights	US	24	24	18	66	22.0
2	Tanay	RU	22	20	17	59	19.7
3	Fly-In Machine 44	BE	19	20	14	53	17.7
4	VR8 France	FR	17	19	11	47	15.7
5	Project: Ride the Dragon	UK	6	9	8	23	7.7
6	Awkward Turtles	UK	7	8	4	19	6.3

Coach Gary Smith will surely discuss the situation in length with the team, which will probably happen more in depth after the next test of the double duties. The same Belgian Formation Skydiving delegation is heading to California next month where Skydive Perris is hosting the USPA Nationals 2017.

The test in Perris will provide the additional and missing information of how dangerous Arizona Airspeed will be next year. The results in Saarlouis were showing that the French national 4-way team is moving closer to the top level that NMP PCH HayaBusa has been defining since 2014, and SDC Rhythm XP was not too far behind.

However, the final US word is only spoken after Arizona Airspeed has put numbers to the leaderboard, as well, and HayaBusa will take on both teams in Perris.

It will be a serious competition and a very realistic test for the Belgians. Airspeed and Rhythm both have to show their best, as they have to win to make it to Australia next year. Belgium's Fly-In Machine 44 will also have a re-match with the Golden Knights for a serious challenge, and Airspeed's 8-way lineup will offer strong opposition, as well. In the meantime, HayaBusa kept in 4-way shape with a 26.2 average at the national championships this weekend...