posted Jan 31st, 2025 - The German 8-way duel between the Airbus 8-way team and Operation Adler has been covered comprehensively by the NSL News, including live coverage from the German national outdoor championships at GoJump in Gransee near Berlin.

The battle for the slot in the German delegation at the 26th FAI World Formation Skydiving Championships at Crystal Coast Skydiving in North Carolina turned out be as exciting as it was expected, despite the 6-point advantage for Operation Adler after Round 10.

The NSL News update on 31 October 2024 provided all the details of the dramatic finish, which was eventually much more exciting than what the 6-point difference indicates. Round 10 turned out to be like a jump-off round, even though both teams did not even know how close they were to each other. It seems like the pressure that the two German teams put on each other in the run-up to the national championships benefited the performance level of Germany's 8-way teams at outdoor world championships in general. It was in Dubai 2012 when a German 8-way team finished with a 14+ average, and the scores have been trending upwards since 2018.

FAI Mondial 2012			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		N,21,B,5	14,C,13	22,M,20	17,H,16	J,E,12,4	7,19,15	G,K,8,2	O,L,F,P,A	10,11,18	9,Q,D,1	Total	Avg
1	Golden Knights	US	21	19	27	26	26	18	20	28	19	25	229	22.9
2	Aerodyne Maubeuge	FR	22	19	22	23	27	20	20	28	19	25	225	22.5
3	Barkli 8	RU	19	18	22	22	21	15	15	24	16	20	192	19.2
4	EADS 8	DE	14	13	15	15	18	14	14	16	13	16	148	14.8
5	VIVA 8	CH	13	13	15	15	14	11	12	17	13	13	136	13.6
6	Dubai Asaar 8	AE	11	11	12	11	10	10	10	12	12	12	111	11.1
7	M8Trix	NL	11	11	11	12	12	10	10	12	10	-	99	11.0
8	Brit Chicks 8	UK	11	11	12	11	14	10	11	11	6	-	97	10.8
9	South Africa 8	ZA	12	11	11	10	13	9	9	11	10	-	96	10.7
10	Qatar Falcons	QA	11	9	11	11	12	9	9	11	8	-	91	10.1
11	Australia	AU	10	8	9	11	12	10	9	13	-	-	82	10.3
12	The 8 Team	BE	8	11	7	11	12	9	10	12	-	-	80	10.0
12	CTR Optimum 8	BR	9	9	11	12	10	9	10	10	-	-	80	10.0
14	Austria	AT	8	8	9	10	10	6	7	8	-	-	66	8.3
15	Maximum Ride	CA	8	8	7	8	7	8	7	7	-	-	60	7.5
16	Singapore 8	SG	8	7	8	5	5	6	7	8	-	-	54	6.8

Progression of German 8-way Open Class Teams at Outdoor World Championships since 1985

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It also seems like both teams enjoyed the internal German rivalry and the time they spent together, as Airbus 8-way and Operation Adler have finalized new plans for the 2025 season. The audience has a good reason to anticipate the continuation of the same battle, as both teams are probably even stronger than before.

Both teams have changed their lineups, both with two new members, and both teams will probably be stronger. Both teams can also look back at the 8-way experiences that they collected in the past years, and chances are that they will both move to a higher performance and scoring level. Germany could be on the way to move from the 14+ to the 15+ average level this or next year.

The question is once again who will represent the country at the next outdoor world championship in 8-way Open. The new lineups of both teams have the potential to get to their own new record scoring level with similar training efforts as in 2024. Thomas Mack and Linda Koeb will not continue with Operation Adler. Both had 4-way and 8-way double duties at Crystal Coast and decided to reduce their investment to 4-way only. Markus Bastuck is back with his team mates of 2007 to 2013, and Thomas Spielvogel switches sides and continues with the same team mates of the same time period, together with Max Thiele who replaces Chris Schaefer.

FAI Outdoor World Championship 2022			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		20,16,B		P,D,21,13		17,K,11		E,A,19,22		2,9,M		C,14,F,12		3,6,18		4,10,1		8,Q,O,H		5,7,J		Total	Avg
1	Paraclete XP8	US	25	-1	20		20	-1	18	-1	18		19	-1	23		26	-1	16	-2	20	-2	205	20.5
2	Qatar Falcons	QA	21	-1	14	-2	16	-1	17		16		15	-1	19	-1	20	-1	14	-1	12	-4	164	16.4
3	Airbus	DE	18		14		14		13		4	-1	12	-2	16		16		12		14		133	13.3
FAI Outdoor World Championship 2024			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		14,G,13		J,C,17,12		D,A,21,P		18,B,H,F		E,L,O,8		22,2,K		6,7,16		9,20,15		3,M,N,4		5,1,10		Total	Avg
1	GKXP8	US	19	-1	21	-1	22		26		21	-1	21	-1	25		24		37		23		239	23.9
2	Qatar Falcons	QA	16		18		19		21		17		16	-1	20		19		25	-2	19		190	19.0
3	Operation Adler	DE	14		14		11	-2	13	-1	13		14		15		14		20	-2	15		143	14.3

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Airbus at the 25th FAI World Formation Skydiving Championships - Operation Adler at the 26th FAI World Formation Skydiving Championships

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Germany's 8-way lineups between 2004 and 2025

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Holger Sass and Thomas Spielvogel will be replaced for the new Airbus 8-way lineup. New Airbus members Uli Sehrbrock and Henning Stumpp bring a wealth of 8-way experiences into the team. Uli Sehrbrock has trained and competed with German national 8-way teams between 2004 and 2021. Henning Stumpp still owns the highest German 8-way average of 16.3 at the FAI Outdoor World Championship 2008, after the seven rounds in Maubeuge, France.

Uli Sehrbrock and DFV President Henning Stumpp spent three 8-way years and two outdoor world championship together between 2004 and 2006, both with the FSC Remscheid team, both on the 14+ scoring level. Returning Airbus 8-way member Steffen Schiedek was their team mate at six world meets between 1995 and 2006, including the two 14+ average performances.

Operation Adler have their first lineup with only experienced 8-way competitors, who all have attended outdoor world championships in the past, Felix Pfeiffer and Alexander Prendinger first time at Crystal Coast last year. The new Airbus 8-way lineup still has four young 8-way competitors who have not yet felt the world championship atmosphere (Karin Bauch, Shaline Dincher, Carola Fietz, Andreas Höhne). Thomas Spielvogel had recruited them for his new Airbus 8-way lineup of 2022, and they will now continue with him as their new opponent. The combination of the four 8-way veterans and the other half with talent is just as promising as the new Operation Adler lineup.