posted Apr 11th, 2024 - The next major 4-way event is coming up soon with the FAI Indoor World Cup in China. Arizona Airspeed is switching back to indoor mode, together with other teams who competed at the Shamrock Showdown 2024, including their expected top opponent from France, Aethers.

It's a challenging meet agenda for the best teams in the world who are very specialized with their outdoor and indoor performances. Even the indoor events alone require technical adjustments when the sizes of the flying chambers are changing from event to event. The most dramatic change comes up whenever exit and sub-terminal pages are at the beginning of the 35 seconds of working time, together with the necessary gear to survive exits from jump planes and freefall performances;

Arizona Airspeed is one of the many teams who switch back and forth between indoor and outdoor performance and different sizes of the flying chambers. Their last 12 months in the sport began with ten indoor rounds in the 16-foot flying chamber of Paraclete XP in February 2023, followed by outdoor competition at the Shamrock Showdown 2023 a few weeks later. Next were ten indoor rounds in the 14-foot chamber at the Hurricane Factory Slovakia in April 2023 before the outdoor training began for the world cup in Norway in August. USPA Nationals were up a month later, and the next Paraclete XP Indoor Championship would follow in February 2024, then again the Shamrock Showdown. Now they will switch to a 14-foot flying chamber in China.

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NSL Live Talk with Arizona Airspeed's Niklas Hemlin

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Arizona Airspeed had already arrived in Macau when Niklas Hemlin took the time for a new NSL Live Talk conversation before the start of the indoor competition next week. The 4-way indoor and outdoor world champions were the first visitors arriving early in China. Niklas Hemlin said that his team likes to accommodate timely at new competition sites and become familiar with different facilities.

Arizona Airspeed's strongest opponents from France, Aethers, had a very similar schedule in the past twelve months that required the same changes between indoor and outdoor training and competition and different sizes of the flying chambers. After meeting Arizona Airspeed at the outdoor world championship in October 2022 they began the 2023 season at the Shamrock Showdown and switched to indoor competition at Aerokart Paris and its 14-foot flying chamber.

The host of the indoor world meet in Slovakia a month later offered the same size before the next switch to outdoor training and competition and the world cup in Norway, then the national outdoor championship in September. The winter season brought Aethers back to more indoor training, and they competed in the 14-foot flying chamber at the Wind Games on the same weekend when Arizona Airspeed was at Paraclete XP. Both teams eventually met each other live again at Skydive DeLand for the Shamrock Showdown last month.

Wind Games 2024			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		16,4,17		G,E,9,Q		21,K,D,13		A,B,15,20		3,5,F		J,C,P,19		1,8,H		18,7,L		2,10,6		O,22,14		Total	Avg
1	Aethers Medjay	FR	30		53		32		34		38		43	-1	26	-2	32	-1	25		25	-2	338	33.8
Roster: Tom Mattoni (Outside Center), Damien Gouriou (Point), Alban Rumolo (Inside Center), Mathieu Quizy (Tail)
Paraclete XP Indoor 2024			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		4,21,F		6,14,5		H,10,K,8		2,D,B,15		O,J,P,22		20,17,18		L,M,C,19		E,13,3		A,1,Q,G		11,12,16		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	28		26	-1	29		33		34		28		38	-1	29		39		26		310	31.0
Roster: Niklas Hemlin (Outside Center), Joey Marshall (Point), Christopher Kuhlmann (Inside Center), Mikhail Markine (Tail)

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Aethers Medjay at Wind Games - Arizona Airspeed at Paraclete XP

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The current lineups have faced each other directly at an indoor competition only once so far, at the 4th FAI World Indoor Skydiving Championship 2023 a year ago. Niklas Hemlin and his current team mates know that Aethers have the potential to challenge them for the indoor top spot, and they try to be as best prepared as possible.

Aethers had a setback when outside center Tom Mattoni got injured in DeLand right before the Shamrock Showdown. However, he hopefully recovers quickly and well to be ready and get back into 4-way indoor action in China.

The conversation with Niklas Hemlin at the competition site was not so much a preview of the upcoming indoor competition. The main topic was the recently covered CSC Constellation XP technique for Block 10 (Diamond - Bunyip). The NSL News had received feedback from the most experienced judges, and Niklas Hemlin followed up with the technical background for one of the longest-standing maneuvers in 4-way Formation Skydiving competition. However, there was still a part of the conversation that has probably even more impact on the Formation Skydiving world than either the upcoming indoor duel with Aethers or the Block 10 technique. Niklas Hemlin confirmed officially that Arizona Airspeed will have a change in the lineup at the end of the year when he and Mikhail Markine will step back from intensive 4-way training and competition. The NSL News will surely follow up with more information.

FAI Indoor World Championship 2023			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		E,14,3		K,F,22,17		O,7,5		N,2,18		L,P,12,15		M,10,D,H		16,9,C		1,G,J,8		4,Q,21		6,20,A		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	27		35		39		27	-2	31		38		38		29		28	-1	31		323	32.3
2	France 4-way Open	FR	27		33		38		26	-2	28		33	-3	35		28		30		30		308	30.8

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Arizona Airspeed - Aethers at the FAI Indoor World Championship 2023, Video Footage Courtesy of FAI/InTime

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