posted Feb 28th, 2007 - The NSL News has followed the Golden Knights 4-way and 8-way teams as long as the NSL website has covered Formation Skydiving competition. The 2006 season alone had 41 stories where the Golden Knights were mentioned one way or another, even though it was a relatively quiet season for the Army team.

The attention of the NSL News was brought to an even higher level when current team captain Brian "BK" Krause provided an interesting update in October 2006. The NSL News story on October 17 (Archives > 2006 > News) explained the plans of the Golden Knights and introduced the new line-up for the 2007 season.

The extensive NSL News coverage of the USPA Nationals 2006 (Archives > 2006 > Leagues > Special Events) naturally included the performance of the Golden Knights throughout the 10-round competition. The "pick-up team" by then, with Eric Heinsheimer (Tail), Kurt Isenbarger (Center Outside), Matt Davidson (Center Inside), Brian Krause (Point) and Larry Miller (Video) in the new line-up, was already in medal contention before the meltdown in Round 10 threw the Army team back behind Perris Fury to the 5th position.

FAI Anton Malevsky Memorial International Cup 2007 4 - 6 July 2007, Stupino - Russia The NSL News coverage of the Malevsky Cup 2007 is brought to you with the help of:

In fact, the Golden Knights were one point ahead of Airspeed Odyssey after nine rounds and had a realistic chance for bronze medals in this first "test event" for the new line-up. Eric Heinsheimer brainlocked, as he mentioned in the latest NSL News interview, and all team members had a good laugh when they remembered the situation. They were not too serious about the outcome at the USPA Nationals by then.

The next NSL News update on 22 December 2006 confirmed that the Golden Knights would be much more serious from then on. The new line-up had a good time at the few occasions in 2006 and continued to finalize the team plans for the 2007 season.

Team captain Brian Krause kept in touch with the NSL News and provided updates once in a while, including the confirmation of the team's attendance at the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2007. Finally, the Golden Knights invited the NSL News for a visit at the spring training camp in Florida.

The Army team had set camp at the Air Force Base in Avon Park, south of Lake Wales. The NSL News used the opportunity for the next update, including a live interview, which can be viewed by clicking here.

Team captain Brian Krause and the Army staff in Avon Park helped to make the access to the Air Force Base easy and convenient for the NSL News reporter. On arrival of the NSL News at the team hangar, Eric Heinsheimer, Kurt Isenbarger, Matt Davidson, Brian Krause and Larry Miller were just finishing with the last debriefing of Monday's morning session. The NSL-TV camera was turned on and captured the wrap-up of the debriefing in front of the TV screen. This video can be viewed by clicking here.

Next step was the live interview with the NSL News, which took place during the late-morning break. The history of the current team members offers a lot of information, and the interview became longer than expected. The team members introduced themselves at the very beginning before each of them provided specific individual information.

The NSL News was interested in the motives that brought Eric Heinsheimer and Kurt Isenbarger back into 4-way competition after retiring at the end of the 2003 season. It became very obvious that the current line-up enjoys the group dynamics and is determined to end up on the very top this year.

Of course, the NSL News asked for an evaluation of the results at the Valentine's Meet 2007 and a preview of the competition at the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2007. The team openly offered videos of their jumps when they copied the draw of the Valentine's Meet 2007.

The Golden Knights said that they finished the same 10-round competition with a 21.7 average during their training camp. The NSL News copied the videos of rounds three and five, and they will be added to the NSL-TV coverage of the Valentine's Meet together with the other meet videos of the same rounds.

Finally, Brian Kause also made it possible for the NSL News to follow the team up to jump altitude in the Army's Twinotter. The pictures of the exit setup completed the NSL News visit at the Army camp. The Golden Knights will continue with the training camp until the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2007 in DeLand brings the first serious test of the 2007 season to the team. Airspeed Odyssey and Team Fastrax will be waiting there to see what the Army team has to offer in March 2007...