posted Jan 22nd, 2018 - The NSL News update on 17 January 2018 included the exciting news that the World Challenge 2018 will also include an 8-way competition for the first time.

The first 8-way meet of the year in Europe will take place once again at Weembi Lille, host of the French Indoor Nationals 2018.

The Paraclete XP Indoor Championship was the first wind tunnel competition that included 8-way, and this year's event is scheduled for the end of February. This means that the 8-way fans, and also 4-way teams who would like to add some more flying time to their meet agendas, have three different events that they can attend in the first four months of the year.

The French national championships at Weembi Lille last year were the qualification event for the FAI Indoor World Meet 2017 in Montreal. This year's indoor championships at the same place will qualify only French 4-way teams to compete at the FAI Indoor World Cup 2018 in Bahrain. FAI indoor events don't include 8-way competition.

French Indoor Nationals 2017			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		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

Indoor 8-way training and competition is still growing in number of events and participation. Twelve teams competed at Weembi last year, which tied Paraclete's AAA Class record number in 8-way.

With the story on 30 December 2017, the NSL News also covered another 8-way competition that Weembi hosted in December. The Weembi Girls won with a 24.5 average.

The Weembi High Rollers won the 4-way Open Class qualification for the indoor world meet at the French Indoor Nationals 2017, even though they finished quite far behind guest team NMP PCH HayaBusa.

The French national outdoor team, RealFly-Sion, ended up behind the French Weembi Girls and impressed later at the FAI World Cup 2017 in Saarlouis.

The Weembi High Rollers then won the silver medals for France in Montreal, seven points behind HayaBusa and 18 points ahead of Arizona Airspeed.

French Inddor Nationals 2017		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Junior	P,Q,21	D,B,14	M,H,J,22	C,7,F	O,A,11	13,8	N,K,19	G,E,2	6,15	1,9	Total	Avg
1	Aerokart Ak'demie 2	26	24	24	30	20	12	25	22	20	22	225	22.5
2	Aerokart Ak'demie 1	26	24	25	25	22	15	22	23	20	21	223	22.3

The French Weembi Girls had no serious competition in 4-way Women on home turf and finished behind HayaBusa and High Rollers. They brought back gold medals for France from Canada.

The most exciting competition at the French Indoor Nationals 2017 was the qualification for the indoor world meet in 4-way Junior. All three Aerokoart Ak'demie teams placed within the Top 5 spots on the 19-team AA Class leaderboard. Aerokart Ak'demie 2 upset the Ak'demie 1 team by two points and won the tickets to Canada.

The French 4-way Junior team won the FAI gold medals, as well, which made it a very successful trip to Montreal for the French delegation. The VFS team added a third set of gold medals, and only NMP PCH HayaBusa stopped the French quest for a Formation Skydiving Indoor Sweep.

The French Indoor Nationals 2018 in March are once again open for guest teams who took full advantage of the invitation last year. Teams from eight different countries visited Weembi Lille for a 4-way and 8-way indoor weekend. This year's event is schedule for March 23 - 25 which leaves just enough rest before the short trip to Bedford for more 4-way and 8-way fun...