posted Jul 8th, 2018 - The internal French battle between the national teams in 4-way Women, Aerodyne Weembi Girls, and 4-way Open, Aerodyne Realfly, has been the topic of the NSL News several times in the past.

Both teams were recruited by national coaches Jeremie Rollett and his successor Mathieu Bernier after the FAI World Meet 2014 in Prostejov, where France won gold in 4-way Women and finished 4th in 4-way Open. The new French team in 4-way Women still had Anais Maillet in the 2015 lineup before Pamela Lissajoux took the outside center slot at the end of the year. The internal battle for the 4-way AAA Class top spot in France has been helpful by pushing both teams to higher performance levels ever since.

Aerodyne Weembi Girls have no serious competition in the 4-way Women world, while Aerodyne Realfly has to finish on peak performance level at the FAI World Meet 2018 to have a chance for 4-way Open Class gold medals in Australia.

Both French national teams have won internal battles in the 4-year period since the beginning of the 2015 season. Aerodyne Weembi Girls had very strong indoor performances and recently also claimed the highest outdoor performance level in the history of 4-way Women. Aerodyne Realfly has had the upper hand at most outdoor duels, with a few exceptions.

World Air Games 2015			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		B,C,17,2	N,19,4	13,14,F	6,E,O,L	7,1,A	D,18,P,22	M,H,5,15	16,9,12	21,K,G,Q	11,20,3	Total	Avg
1	NMP PCH Hayabusa	BE	29	26	23	36	28	23	31	24	27	22	269	26.9
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	29	27	22	36	28	19	29	25	30	20	265	26.5
3	Black Cat	RU	23	23	21	30	21	21	26	23	27	19	234	23.4
2	Aerodyne Weembi Girls	FR	25	22	21	30	21	20	20	22	25	18	224	22.4
4	Qatar Tigers	QA	22	21	17	28	23	19	27	19	21	17	214	21.4
5	Evolution	CA	21	22	17	28	20	15	24	20	22	16	205	20.5
6	Dubai Asaar Black	AE	21	20	17	20	20	17	23	19	20	17	194	19.4
7	Aerodyne Realfly	FR	24	20	18	29	20	17	19	19	22	-	188	20.9
8	Vision 99	UK	18	12	15	23	18	15	18	17	-	-	136	17.0
9	Rotor Out	AU	17	16	14	22	17	15	21	13	-	-	135	16.9
10	Ex3mo	IT	16	16	12	21	16	17	14	15	-	-	127	15.9
11	AtomiX YUU	DE	14	12	14	20	16	13	17	14	-	-	120	15.0

In fact, there were only two outdoor meets that the French 4-way Women team won over the Open Class team since the current lineups were put together. The first one was also the first outdoor competition that both new French national teams attended together with their current lineups, the World Air Games 2015.

The two French teams competed in different categories using the same competition draw. Aerodyne Realfly did not make the cut after Round 9, while Aerodyne Weembi Girls had an impressive start with new team member Pamela Lissajoux.

However, the 4-way Women team has not won a French outdoor duel ever since - until last weekend.

As in May this year, both French national 4-way teams attended the Coupe de France competition, which was hosted by Skydive Maubeuge this time, and the meet conditions were special once again. The jump plane was a Pilatus Porter, which is still the most popular jump plane in France and a few other European countries. However, the Porter has a small right-hand door for the exit, which is very different compared to the Cessna Caravan for the FAI World Meet in Australia.

Coupe de France - June 2018		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	19,22,M	11,3,K	4,17,F	9,15,H	E,G,12,D	6,21,10	20,2,5	C,O,A,L,16	J,18,B,1	14,13,P	Total	Avg
1	Aerodyne Weembi Girls	20	20	23	28	22	19	19	30	22	20	223	22.3
2	Aerodyne Realfly	21	18	25	29	25	20	18	31	18	16	221	22.1
3	Espoir Weembi Lille	15	13	10	14	15	12	11	16	12	5	123	12.3

Skydive Maubeuge is also the place that hosted the last world meet where the same aircraft was used ten years ago. The French national teams had the advantage at the FAI World Meet 2008, where the 8-way team won the gold medals and the 4-way team finished 2nd, one point behind Arizona Airspeed.

All visiting teams with left-hand patterns had to practice exits from a right-hand door and develop a continuity plan for the situation.

It has been the opposite in the decade after the FAI World Meet 2008, and the French national teams, as well as NMP PCH HayaBusa and the Italian teams, have adopted in their own ways to the left-hand pattern.

In fact, there are hardly any 4-way events at all with exits from a right-hand door, and the three French national A- and B-teams suffered heavily from dealing with exits and a sub-terminal page from the Pilatus Porter door.

The scores cannot be compared realistically with their own previous meet averages and the results of their opponents. However, Aerodyne Weembi Girls found the better way how to deal with the unusual situation and won an outdoor duel for the first time since December 2015.

Round 10 in Maubeuge was probably the last time this year that the French national 4-way teams jumped from a Pilatus Porter...