posted Jul 28th, 2018 - The NSL News has covered the qualification drama of the German 8-way team Airbus a few times this year, beginning with the introduction of the new 8-way project on 8 January 2018.

The story became even more interesting when the details of the qualification requirements for the team to compete for Germany at the FAI World Meet 2018 became a part of the story. The update on 14 May 2018 provided more details of the situation.

Finally, the last update on 8 June 2018 included the details of the qualification event that the German skydiving federation had set up for the new Airbus 8-way lineup.

It was a 13.0 average that the team had to put on the leaderboard for a 10-round meet, and there was also a deadline. The qualification event was scheduled for this weekend, and Airbus did not have a lot of time to get ready for the important event, which would decide whether Germany will have an 8-way team in Australia or not.

July 28th, 2018		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open	8,1,19	A,17,15	J,2,9	D,13,5	F,N,6,12	4,M,20	3,7,22	L,P,G,B,18	E,Q,11,H	14,10,C	K,21,16	Total	Avg
1	Airbus	13	12	12	13	15	18	-	-	-	-	-	83	13.8

Video footage and editing by team videographer Erik Lorenz

The 1-team showdown is now in full swing, and Airbus is in a very promising position. The team mastered the four slower rounds at the beginning of the 10-round draw near the 13-average benchmark and was only two points behind after Round 4.

It was an interesting situation, as the team was not behind or ahead of other teams. It was a simple number that Airbus has been competing with beginning in Round 1.

The next two rounds on Saturday would bring some faster sequences with scoring opportunities, and Airbus took advantage of it at the right time. The German team is now five points ahead of the required 13-average, and it seems like the current 13.8 average might stand after ten rounds, or get even better. The next three rounds have faster sequences compared to the first four rounds before Round 10 concludes the qualification event with a slower sequence.

The 13.8 average is already higher than the German 8-way average at the last FAI World Meet, and the new Airbus lineup could have a re-match of the showdown with MicroClim8 two years ago. However, first there are four more rounds to go on Sunday before the beer could flow freely in Germany...