posted Jan 28th, 2011 - Each of the Winter/Spring Tour events that the top teams attend has its own meaning and background.

The Dubai Championship 2011 was like a mini world meet and brought together three of the four best Open Class teams in 2010. NMP-PCH Hayabusa and Aerodyne Aerokart used the opportunity to test their new lineups, while Arizona Airspeed was on a farewell vacation.

The next outdoor competition is the Valentine's Meet 2011, which features the new Airspeed lineup and once again the French national team. The results in Eloy will show how close the gold and silver medalists at the World Championship of Formation Skydiving 2010 will be at the beginning of the 2011 season. However, there is an indoor competition with its own character before the NSL News travels to the west coast, the Paraclete XP Indoor Skydiving Championships 2011.

The Paraclete competition introduces the new Airspeed lineup before France will challenge Mark Kirkby, Thomas Hughes, Niklas Hemlin and Josh Hall, with Dave Brown on camera, on their home turf in Eloy. In Raeford, all the US top contenders will be eager to see how close to Airspeed they are. At least Perris Fury, Golden Knights and Paraclete XP4 will not admit the 2011 USPA 4-way title to Airspeed without a fight.

Only one of the five US top contenders will eventually represent the USA at the World Meet 2012. The International Parachuting Commission (IPC) will decide tomorrow whether the US national team of 2012 will travel to Dubai or to Italy for the World Championship of Formation Skydiving next year.

The latest poll results show clearly who the on-line audience expects to be the strongest 4-way team in the USA this year. The pressure is on the new Airspeed lineup, and they have to show in Raeford that they can live up to the high expectations. The national teams from Belgium and France will surely watch this indoor competition very carefully, as well.

The tunnel meet in Raeford will be followed by the next outdoor competition, the Shamrock Showdown 2011. This event will eventually bring together all the current top contenders in the world to the same place and at the same time, including all the US top teams. It will be a combination of the Dubai Championship, the Paraclete Indoor Championships and the Valentine's Meet in DeLand.

Last not least, the World Challenge 2011 at Bodyflight Bedford concludes the Winter/Spring Tour of the top teams with the biggest indoor competition in the world. Most of the teams that compete at the Shamrock Showdown will then travel to the United Kingdom at the beginning of April and enjoy the adventure resort in Bedford.

There will be a break for a few months before the Midway Battle at Skydive Chicago will bring together the US top teams. The World Cup 2011 in Germany will follow in August and include some of the best US teams this year. The USPA Nationals 2011 in Eloy in October will then be the US qualifyer for the World Meet in 2012. It will be a very exciting 4-way competition season.