posted Apr 15th, 2022 - The 4-way Junior competition at the FAI Indoor World Cup 2022 was promising an exciting international competition when the field of registered teams still included two additional teams from Russia. It seemed as if all five junior teams could be in contention for medals.

The exclusion of the Russian delegation from the event reduced the 4-way Junior field to three teams, who were still expected to challenge each other, as the NSL News reported on March 28th. The French Aerokart Ak'demie lineup had posted a 16.1 average on the AAA Class leaderboard of the French Indoor Nationals. This was close enough to the Czech AAA Class scores of the two 4-way junior teams (HF Flying Rebels, HF Chameleons) to expect a tight competition in Charleroi.

The official speed test sessions the day before Round 1 of the indoor world cup confirmed that all three 4-way Junior teams might be able to challenge each other for the different sets of medals in this category.

One of the potential contenders was instantly separated from the other two in Round 1, which was a Super Sequence for the 4-way Junior teams. The HF Chameleons were not able to copy the pace of Aerokart Ak'demie and HF Flying Rebels, who both posted the highest scores for a single round in the young 4-way Junior history. The French team claimed the world record of 55 points over the Rebels' 54.

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FAI Indoor World Cup 2022			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Junior		E,F,P,J		C,O,G,11		18,H,22		B,L,D,13		19,Q,7		8,9		K,14,M		6,1		Total	Avg
1	HF Flying Rebels	CZ	54	-1	28	-1	20		29	-1	24	-2	25		23	-2	22		225	28.1
2	Aerokart Akdemie	FR	55	-1	23	-3	19		29	-2	20	-1	20	-2	23	-1	19	-2	208	26.0
3	HF Chameleons	CZ	45	-4	25		18		24		21	-2	24		20	-2	22	-1	199	24.9

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HF Flying Rebels - Aerokart Ak'demie - HF Chameleons at the FAI Indoor World Cup 2022 - Footage courtesy of FAI/ISC/Airspace Charleroi

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For the two top teams after Round 1 it was still only the opening of the competition, as a 1-point difference for a round is nothing unusual. However, the HF Chameleons kept up well with the Aerokart Ak'demie team after the meet opener. In fact, the second Czech team won the other seven rounds by one point (144 - 143) over the French team.

All three teams finished with their highest meet averages on significantly higher scoring levels, compared to their previous results. The HF Chameleons had a 20.2 average in their records for an A Class draw in June 2020. They leaped to AAA in November 2021 and posted 18.9 in March this year.

Aerokart Ak'demie improved the 18.2 average at the Weembinamic 2021 to 26.0 last week, which was still not enough to finish ahead of HF Flying Rebels. The Czech team had posted their last AA Class average in June 2020 (22.7) before moving up to AAA Class competition, where they have a 22.8 team record average since February. The HF Flying Rebels lost only the first round to France, and it required a world record number to outscore the Czech team. The next generation of Czech 4-way juniors eventually defended the FAI gold medals in this category successfully that the HF Cubs won in 2019.

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FAI Indoor World Meet 2019			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Junior		14,6		11,J,O		9,2		7,D,F		20,B,21		1,M,P		8,15		Q,H,18		Total	Avg
1	HF Cubs	CZ	25		29	-1	31		47		24		34	-1	20	-3	32	-2	242	30.3
2	Aerokart Ak'demie	FR	24	-1	30		29		38		28		31	-2	24		31		235	29.4
3	Russia FS Junior	RU	14	-5	23	-2	19	-4	29		15	-4	26	-1	17		20	-3	163	20.4
4	Skydive Recruitz	UK	10	-2	16		16		20		14	-1	12	-5	10	-4	15		113	14.1

HF Cubs and Aerokart Ak'demie at the FAI Indoor World Meet 2019

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One member of the HF Flying Rebels will grow out of the 4-way Junior category before the next FAI Indoor World Meet, and Jan Klapka has to find a new 4-way competitor for the lineup or send another team, possibly the HF Chameleons, into the battle for the next FAI gold medals.

He has more than enough potential candidates, as he is currently working with a group of 50 Formation Skydiving competition juniors at the Hurricane Factory in Prague. The NSL News visited the place where Jan Klapka has established the Czech 4-way junior project after the indoor world cup in Belgium.

He has turned the Hurricane Factory first into a 4-way factory and now into a medal factory, as the Czech delegation in horizontal Formation Skydiving competition brought back four sets of medals from Charleroi, gold and bronze in 4-way Junior, gold in 4-way Women, and bronze in European 4-way Open.

His wife Jirina Klapkova and HF Flying Circus member Martina Vavackova were working with the 4-way juniors on Monday this week, and there was a lot of laughing and smiling inside and outside of the 14-foot flying chamber...

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4-way Junior Training at the Hurricane Factory in Prague

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