posted Dec 8th, 2017 - The Qatar Falcons 8-way team recently completed a winter training camp at Skydive City in Zephyrhills, Florida. It was a good opportunity for the NSL News for an 8-way update and to get additional information from coach Gary Smith.

Qatar's 8-way coach has also been working with NMP PCH HayaBusa for several years. He started his indoor coaching work with the Belgians in 2011 and extended to outdoor training in 2012. He said that it has been very enjoyable work with the HayaBusa family and that he has become very close friends with the team members, as well.

His work with the Qatar Falcons started later, and he seems to be on track to guide an 8-way team into serious medal contention too.

The NSL News met with Gary Smith and the team at the end of the camp and after the completion of approx. 145 training jumps. The camp also included a 4-day trip to Paraclete XP in North Carolina for additional indoor training. The last days of the winter training had to be spent without team captain Abdulla Ahmad Al Hammadi, who had dislocated his shoulder during a special training jump with a large Qatar flag. He will be back soon, and the Falcons have a well trained alternate who filled the slot, while Gary Smith switched to B-slot training in the meantime.

The Qatar Falcons are in a similar situation as the Golden Knights as full-time competitors with military resources. They can focus on their training without interruptions, as long as there are no military crises.

The team started the Qatar 8-way project in the Intermediate Class competition of the USPA Nationals 2011 and a 10th place with a 10.1 average at the team's first world meet, the FAI Mondial 2012, and were then put on a hold between 2013 and 2014.

After missing the FAI World Meet in Prostejov 2014 they came back in 2015 with Gary Smith and moved up to the world's 4th place with a 14.6 average at the FAI Mondial 2016.

The 14.9 average at the USPA Nationals 2017 confirmed the performance level and slightly lifted the scoring average before the winter training camp in Zephyrhills. The Qatar Falcons then took on the same competition draw of the U.S. national championships during the training camp and finished on a significantly higher scoring level.

The Falcons have set the FAI 8-way bronze medals as their goal for Australia 2018. Coach Gary Smith said that the Golden Knights and Tanay from Russia are probably both out of reach. However, France seems to be in a weak 8-way period, and the Qatar team might be able to take a medal position away from one of the three 8-way powerhouses of the past with enough training.

FAI Mondial 2016			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way		12,A,16	18,15,O	1,F,E,C	17,B,14	10,2,20	21,11,G	J,5,19	L,M,K,7	D,8,4	3,13,Q	Total	Avg
1	Golden Knights	US	31	25	26	22	20	22	19	26	24	24	239	23.9
2	France	FR	22	20	25	18	16	19	17	23	19	20	199	19.9
3	Tanay	RU	23	19	25	17	14	16	16	21	20	19	190	19.0
4	Qatar Falcons	QA	19	16	20	15	7	10	13	16	15	15	146	14.6
5	Microclim8	UK	15	14	16	14	11	13	13	14	13	17	140	14.0
6	Airbus	DE	16	15	17	11	11	13	12	14	12	15	136	13.6
7	Australia	AU	13	13	14	12	9	13	12	15	10	14	125	12.5
8	Divergence	CA	11	10	9	11	8	10	8	10	11	11	99	9.9
9	Brazil	BR	11	8	10	9	5	9	9	11	8	13	93	9.3

Shamrock Showdown 2018 Information: Cessna Caravan and Twin Otter both confirmed as jump planes

Gary Smith also provided some feedback related to the 4-way situation a year before the world meet in Australia. He said that NMP PCH HayaBusa has to work very hard to maintain the top spot: "It is always easier to catch up from behind, while it is much more difficult to defend the top spot."

He was in a similar position after winning with DeLand Majik in 2004. He continued with DeLand Fire and won 4-way gold again for the United States two years later in Gera 2006.

He confirmed that NMP PCH HayaBusa stepped away from 8-way training and competition with the Fly-In Machine 44 to focus on the third set of consecutive gold medals in 4-way.

The Belgian Fly-In Machine 44 was far ahead of the Qatar Tigers at the USPA Nationals 2017 and would probably have the better chances to win 8-way bronze medals in Australia.

However, he and the HayaBusa members agreed that 8-way training would take too much time away from 4-way, even though they could probably handle the competition pressure of both events.

Gary Smith and HayaBusa expect Arizona Airspeed to move much closer, and they even see the French 4-way Open Class lineup (RealFly-Sion) currently as the tougher challenger. The results of the Shamrock Showdown 2018 will show the outdoor situation at the beginning of the world meet year...

USPA Nationals 2017			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		G,22,1	9,6,2	D,7,17	8,J,C,K	Q,B,14,20	19,15,4	A,10,13	12,M,N,P	H,O,3,16	5,21,11	Total	Avg
1	Golden Knights	US	22	17	16	19	21	22	19	21	28	17	202	20.2
G	Fly-In Machine 44	BE	23	16	17	16	15	21	16	20	26	15	185	18.5
G	Qatar Falcons	QA	16	12	15	12	15	16	13	17	20	13	149	14.9
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	17	14	11	15	15	17	14	13	18	13	147	14.7
G	Amphibious Attack Tigers	US	18	12	13	10	13	18	14	16	15	11	140	14.0
6	SDC Rhythm XP8	US	12	11	12	13	11	15	12	15	14	12	127	12.7
7	Paraclete XP8	US	13	11	10	11	12	14	12	11	14	10	118	11.8
8	Spaceland Gummies 8	US	11	11	8	7	10	12	9	10	10	9	97	9.7
G	Perris Spider Pigs	US	5	7	4	5	6	5	7	5	4	7	55	5.5