posted Oct 27th, 2005 - The 8-way competition ended on the highest level of performance. The very last jump of the 8-way competition was probably the best skydive of the whole meet. Arizona Airspeed boarded the plane alone, just as throughout the whole competition. Team number 805 put Airspeed at the end of the jump order from the very beginning, and it remained the same way when the jump order was adjusted according to the current rankings.

Deguello and Italy shared a load, while Russia and France jumped from the same plane. Airspeed had the whole plane without company. The pressure was on in round ten after France had reduced the distance to one single point in round nine. Airspeed did what the team has done several times in the past: taking on the challenge and mastering it with excellence.

The video of round ten shows a stellar Airspeed performance. France delivered well enough and on the same performance level as throughout the whole meet. However, it was not enough to make up the missing last point. In addition, Airspeed had a flawless and aggressive jump and finally added to more points for a 3-point victory.

The NSL News had the chance to catch Airspeed members shortly after the cheering noise in the team hangar had gone back to a lower level. Dennis Rook is leaving Eloy, and the FAI World Cup 2005 was his last event before he will go back to his home in the Northeast of the USA. He said good-bye to Airspeed competition in the NSL News video.

Airspeed Odyssey did not get a long break and moved straight forward to preparing the next 4-way jump. Odyssey still took the time for a few words to the NSL audience when the 4-way dirtdive was completed. The short interviews in the middle of the action can be viewed by clicking here.

The distraction did not bother the Odyssey members, and round nine added to the team's success in Eloy. Odyssey posted another highscore after a re-judging. The judges had first deducted one point from the total of 19 in time, and Airspeed used the new re-judging rule to get back the lost point. It cost the team $100, as the rule explains:

The Airspeed Odyssey distance to the teams behind even increased by three points with this additional point on the Odyssey account. DeLand Fire lost grips and the whole single flyer of Block 2's Side Body Donut on the exit. The remainder of the jump was sharp and quick, however, the first damage was already done. Two additional deductions for infringements added to the damage.

Russia's Black Cat had serious problems building the first Photons of Block 11 with a very different engineering and had to settle with 15 points, as well.

Airspeed Odyssey is now going into round ten with a 22.0 average, and the last sequence is on the fast side. The Black Cats are still one point ahead of DeLand Fire. Only the best six teams will perform the last round of the meet in each event. Stay tuned.