posted Sep 5th, 2018 - Germany's current Airbus FSZ Saar lineup had much less work this year to win the 4-way competition at the national championships. Challenger AtomiX YUU had finished only eight points behind (184 - 176) in 2017 and was eager to get even closer a year later.

Airbus was in the team's first year with the new lineup, which was a 2-2 combination of two previous members (Thomas Mack, Goeran Meyer) and two members of the previous German national 4-way team, Paratec-Saar (Markus Bastuck, Joern Thiele). Andreas Troegele continued in his camera slot.

A year later, and after joining the indoor competition world at the team's first two meets, Airbus has picked up the pace, while AtomiX could not complete the planned training schedule and increase the performance level. However, AtomiX will compete again at the upcoming ESL Championship 2018 and has new plans for the next two years. New goal is to compete for Germany at the FAI World Meet 2020 in Tanay after winning the national championships in 2019.

Airbus did not compete with the complete lineup last week. Inside center Joern Thiele is recovering from an earlier injury, and coach Solly Williams, 4-way world champion of 2004 with DeLand Majik, filled the slot at the German Nationals. He has been coaching the team for several years.

German Nationals 2018		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	B,11,7		C,9,3		K,4,1		5,L,H,G		18,19,M		D,17,13		22,P,12		E,20,8		O,14,N,10		16,Q,J,15		Total	Avg
1	Airbus 4-way FSZ Saar	22		24		19		26		19		19		15		19		18		19		200	20.0
2	AtomiX-YUU Skydive	20		18	-4	16		21		18		16		13		14		16		17		169	16.9
3	Paranodon Bardarbunga	19		17		15		16		16		14		14		15		15		-		141	15.7
4	Dark Energy	17		19		13	-1	17	-2	15		14		12		14		14		15		150	15.0
5	NeVa FSZ Saar	17		14		12		16		13		12		10		13		13		13		133	13.3
6	Paranodon Eyjafjallajökull	16		15		14		13		11		11		11		14		11		-		116	12.9
7	Skynamite FSZ Saar	17		14		11		15		12		11		11		13		11		10		125	12.5
8	Wolf Pack	14		13		10	-2	15		12		11		9		12		9		12		117	11.7
9	Skyweed Illertissen	14		14		12		14		11		10		8		12		11		10		116	11.6
10	HorschD FSZ Saar	14		13		8	-2	11	-1	11		6		9		11		8		12		103	10.3

The 20.0 average after Round 10, which was officially 20.1 after Round 9, is the first 20+ outdoor average for the current Airbus lineup, even though all team members are familiar with this scoring level, including missing inside center Joern Thiele.

Paratec-Saar (Markus Bastuck, Joern Thiele) had won the German Nationals 2013 with a 20.2 average, one point ahead of EADS/Airbus with Thomas Mack and Goeran Meyer. Markus Bastuck, Thomas Mack and Goeran Meyer have now recorded their next 20+ average with Solly Williams in the lineup, and Joern Thiele will try to copy this at his comeback event, the FAI World Meet 2018 in Australia.

Both Airbus teams, the Illertissen 8-way lineup and the FSZ Saar 4-way team, are in a similar situation, as they did not compete with the same lineups last week that will represent Germany in Australia.

Joern Thiele will be back in the 4-way lineup, and his brother Max replaces Olaf Biedermann in the 8-way team. Max Thiele and Olaf Biedermann have been sharing one 8-way slot in training and competition this year. Max Thiele was in the lineup that finished the critical qualification event in July with the 13.8 average, and Olaf Biedermann competed in 8-way at the national championships.

German Nationals 2013		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	B,7,11	P,C,4,5	J,D,O,21	6,18,15	1,L,2	M,9,K,13	19,N,Q,12	G,22,14	E,H,A,8	F,20,3	Total	Avg
1	Paratec-Saar	21	20	25	17	17	22	19	16	26	19	202	20.2
2	EADS/Airbus	22	21	25	16	16	23	18	15	26	19	201	20.1
3	Gamma Ray Kassel	16	15	19	13	14	17	16	12	19	11	152	15.2
4	Usual Suspects	13	15	17	9	11	16	13	12	15	14	135	13.5
5	Neva	14	14	18	10	12	15	13	11	15	11	133	13.3
6	MiMiKRi	14	12	17	9	10	15	13	10	16	13	129	12.9
7	AtomiX	13	13	16	9	11	15	11	8	13	13	122	12.2
8	Pink Saulgau	11	8	17	11	10	15	11	11	17	9	120	12.0
9	Quaterna	12	8	11	7	8	11	8	7	11	9	92	9.2
10	Schmetterding	9	8	13	7	8	11	8	7	10	8	89	8.9
11	Coolgang Lite	9	9	11	7	8	11	6	6	11	3	81	8.1

Joern and Max Thiele both have competed at several world meets before. They were team mates in the German national 4-way team Paratec-Saar, together with current Airbus 4-way member Markus Bastuck and Dieter Schwarz.

Paratec-Saar took away the German 4-way top spot from EADS/Airbus in 2006, even though the dethroned German champions still represented the country at the FAI World Meet 2006. The same lineup with the Thiele brothers defended the top spot until 2013 and competed for Germany at three world meets in 2008, 2010 and 2012. Markus Bastuck and Joern Thiele continued with a new Paratec-Saar lineup for one more year before the team project was discontinued.

After a 2-year break they joined forces with Airbus members Thomas Mack and Goeran Meyer at the beginning of the 2017 season and are now back to the 20+ level. Max Thiele joined the Airbus 8-way team where he shares the slot with his 8-way team mate of 2012, Olaf Biedermann. Both had competed together in 8-way at the FAI Mondial in Dubai.

This year's world meet brings the Thiele brothers both to their next international competition. However, it will be the first time that they will not compete together in the same team for Germany...