posted May 7th, 2025 - Jan Klapka's 4-way junior school at the Hurricane Factory has caught the attention of the NSL News for over a decade. The recent update on May 3rd covered the 4-way career of Skywalkers Junior from elementary school age to becoming a medal contender in 4-way Open at world championships.

The NSL News met Jan Klapka, the Czech Republic's 4-way godfather, long before the Hurricane Factory was built in Prague. He trained and competed with 4-way team HF Bad Boys and visited Skydive DeLand for winter training in 2006. He had already followed the activities of the National Skydiving League for years, and it did not take too long until he started his own Czech Republic Skydiving Leaguein 2005, which became a part of the affiliated European Skydiving League.

The first SkyVenture windtunnel was built in Orlando and opened doors in 1998. The Bad Boys used it for indoor training, as well. The benefits of indoor training for 4-way competition were on hand, even though it still took a few years before the Florida Skydiving community launched their first indoor competitions. Jan Klapka maintained a close relationship with the National Skydiving League, which included the discussion of other opportunities beyond 4-way indoor competition. The idea of introducing children to bodyflight in a safe windtunnel environment was a part of the brainstorming between Jan Klapka and Kurt Gaebel of the National Skydiving League.

Czech Tunnel League November 2015		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	1,B,17	C,20,16	14,13,G	18,21,12	M,F,6,11	5,A,P,2	D,19,J,L	15,E,O,9	7,H,22	N,4,K,10	Total	Avg
1	CZ Ladies	16	15	14	11	19	14	16	18	17	16	156	15.6
Rank	AA Class	H,21,Q	N,B,6	D,7,15	M,L,O,9	2,C,A	1,18	4,E,F	20,14	K,13,19	22,8	Total	Avg
1	Flying Circus	17	20	17	27	16	9	17	12	12	10	157	15.7
2	Impact	14	14	13	21	13	10	12	9	6	10	122	12.2
3	Accord	15	13	11	17	8	9	11	8	7	8	107	10.7
4	Skywalkers	10	10	10	15	9	6	10	3	8	7	88	8.8
Rank	A Class	21,B	4,K	D,N,9	6,2	Q,8	J,G,A	7,E	C,L,19	F,M,H	O,P,E	Total	Avg
1	HF Junior Cubs	13	13	16	11	10	16	18	9	30	12	148	14.8
2	Best of Relative	14	11	13	10	12	16	15	8	29	18	146	14.6
3	Mimozemky	10	9	11	9	9	14	14	11	30	21	138	13.8
4	HF Junior Flies	10	10	8	10	8	10	12	7	15	10	100	10.0
Rank	Rookie	G,N,C	E,Q,B	J,D,H	L,O,F	M,K,P	A,B,Q	K,G,M	A,E,C	N,J,F	L,P,O	Total	Avg
1	Mirek Team	3	1	1	3	2	1	2	3	1	1	18	1.8

Jan Klapka's progression from training and competing with the Bad Boys to the current impressive success of his 4-way junior school took a while, as his NSL Profile story World Tunnel Leagueexplains. He was rewarded as the Skydiver of the Year 2015 even before he launched the 4-way junior school, due to his amazing efforts to advance Formation Skydiving competition in the Czech Republic.

Indoor Cloud League and First he needed a windtunnel in his area, and the Hurricane Factory in Prague opened doors in 2011. Jan Klapka quickly established participation in before launching his 4-way junior school.

The results of his work with the Czech 4-way juniors are tangible, and it promises the realistic potential to win the first senior FAI world championship medals for the Czech Republic very soon, indoors and even outdoors, as well. It took observers almost a whole decade to see the success that the 4-way junior school generated in the Czech Republic. France had their own 4-way junior project in a different way, as Aerokart Ak'demie's juniors in Paris have also become young world class competitors. Tom and Noe Mattoni are the recent perfect examples.

Czech Tunnel League November 2017		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	H,15,G,17	18,F,14	E,9,M,6	P,D,A,K,11	7,16,3	B,21,O,5	J,N,10,4	C,1,12	13,2,19	20,8,22	Total	Avg
1	HF Bad Boys	25	24	34	30	22	27	21	17	16	17	233	23.3
2	HF Chicks	25	19	31	28	22	21	16	17	17	16	212	21.2
3	HF Flying Circus	20	18	26	23	19	22	18	16	15	15	192	19.2
4	Aladeen	20	18	24	23	17	18	17	13	14	13	177	17.7
5	Skydive University	17	15	22	20	17	18	15	14	12	13	163	16.3
6	Accord	11	11	16	15	13	15	12	10	9	10	122	12.2
Rank	AA Class	H,15,18	F,14,G	E,9,M	P,D,A,K	7,6	B,21,O	J,N,4	C,1,11	2,19	8,22	Total	Avg
1	HF Cubs	13	18	29	21	15	20	16	14	13	12	171	17.1
2	M Team	10	13	23	17	15	13	14	9	7	9	130	13.0
3	Mimozemky	8	12	22	17	14	17	11	9	10	8	128	12.8
Rank	A Class	H,G,21	F,M,K	E,9	P,D,A	7,6	B,O,L	J,N,4	C,Q,H	2,19	8,G	Total	Avg
1	Ladies&Gentlemants	15	31	21	21	18	15	21	11	22	10	185	18.5
2	HF Flying Rebels	7	11	11	8	9	11	5	10	5	4	81	8.1
3	HF Chameleons	6	11	9	7	6	8	4	5	6	6	68	6.8

Similar 4-way junior projects are now in development in the United States, as well, where the economic and cultural environment is different compared to Czech Republic and France. However, the National Skydiving League launched the Children's School of Flight many years ago, following Jan Klapka's lead.

Jesse Stahler, multiple 8-way world champion with the Golden Knights and current member of the national indoor champions' 4-way lineup, father of young children himself, developed a plan for a Children's School of Flight at Paraclete XP, together with his former team mate Andrew Starr and in partnership with the National Skydiving League.

At the same, iFLY Tampa agreed to become the campus for the next Children's School of Flight in Florida. The National Skydiving League works together with NMP PCH HayaBusa member David Grauwels, HayaBusa fan and supporter Pascal Collard, and Vanessa DelGatto to start the 4-way junior school very soon. The project will be officially introduced on May 18th at iFLY Tampa, when selected and approved children will make their first experiences with 4-way training, before the current HayaBusa lineup will feature the results of great team work. The event will be streamed live to the online audience who cannot be present at iFLY Tampa.