posted Jan 2nd, 2017 - The recent update of the Belgian 8-way plans for the near future included the news that the second half of the 8-way lineup will also have their own 4-way plans.

NMP PCH HayaBusa and Thunder ISR were both primarily focused on 4-way training and competition before they joined forces for the casual Thund8rbirds 8-way project in 2015 and 2016.

The reigning 4-way world champions will not change their priorities after announcing the additional 8-way plans for Fly-In Machine 44, as the 3rd set of 4-way gold medals is the main goal for the FAI World Meet 2018.

The new second half of the 8-way lineup, with returning Thunder members Sven Ibens and Wesley Claessens, will not only wait for the exciting opportunities to team up with HayaBusa in 8-way.

Sven Ibens and Wesley Claessens are also planning to bring the two new members, Maya Van Campenhout and Glenn Cuylaerts, to 4-way and 8-way top speed as quickly as possible.

FireFlash is the new team name for the 4-way lineup, and former Thunder videographer Grim Swinnen will be back on camera.

The Sun Path Products NSL News mentioned earlier that Maya Van Campenhout has been training and competing with Les Stunts in the past years, Belgium's national team in 4-way Women.

Glenn Cuylaerts is not new to 4-way competition either, even though he has not won national skydiving championships or titles yet.

However, he has been a successful competitor and is very familiar with performance pressure as a multiple national champion in motocross. The upcoming FireFlash/Fly-In Machine 44 project will most likely add new championship titles and medals to his overall collection.

FAI Mondial 2016			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Women		12,A,16	18,15,O	1,F,E,C	17,B,14	10,2,20	21,11,G	J,5,19	L,M,K,7	D,8,4	3,13,Q	Total	Avg
1	Golden Knights	US	21	21	30	20	17	19	24	35	20	17	224	22.4
2	French Girls	FR	21	18	30	23	17	18	24	34	18	14	217	21.7
3	NFTO	UK	17	15	21	19	13	16	18	26	17	13	175	17.5
4	Montreal Fuzion	CA	18	15	19	16	14	16	17	25	17	14	171	17.1
5	Les Stunts	BE	15	14	20	16	11	13	16	24	15	13	157	15.7

World Challenge 2016			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Women		P,2,10	8,F,15	G,14,17	L,H,E,13	M,7,O,1	16,21,11	N,D,4,9	18,20,A	Q,19,3	C,K,B,22	Total	Avg
1	Volition	UK	19	18	21	29	29	19	29	21	21	26	232	23.2
2	Montreal Fuzion	CA	21	24	22	26	26	21	23	19	21	27	230	23.0
3	NFTO	UK	19	20	18	22	26	14	25	15	20	20	199	19.9
4	Les Stunts	BE	18	20	15	23	23	15	21	16	19	19	189	18.9
5	Valkyria	DK	15	15	13	18	20	13	17	12	15	17	155	15.5

Glenn Cuylaerts has been on a few 4-way teams in the past. The Sun Path Products NSL News found his name in the Fast Forward lineup, a Belgian 4-way team that competed at A and AA meets between 2013 and 2015.

Then he also attended his first AAA Class competition at the ISR Grand Prix 2015 with a pickup team.

Glenn Cuylaerts will take the tail slot, and original HayaBusa member Sven Ibens will be his piece partner and mentor.

Maya Van Campenhout was the outside center for Les Stunts and switches to point, while Thunder member Wesley Claessens makes the opposite move and switches from point to outside center.

FireFlash will be training at the PCV skydiving centers in Belgium (Moorsele, Schaffen, Zwartberg) and add the indoor training in Roosendaal. Sven Ibens said that FireFlash plans to complete 120 training jumps and 10 to 12 hours of tunnel time.

FireFlash will post the first team scores at the French Indoor Nationals 2017 at Weembi, together with NMP PCH HayaBusa.

This will also be the first 8-way competition for Fly-In Machine 44. The same 4-way/8-way combo is planned for the FAI World Cup 2017 in Saarlouis,at Belgium's national championships and at the USPA Nationals.

FireFlash will also compete at the World Challenge 2017, which does not offer 8-way indoor competition.

Former Thunder members Sven Ibens and Wesley Claessens have the same goals for FireFlash in the long term. They want to continue on the highest possible amateur level.

One step on the way to the unofficial title of the best amateur team in the world is the 20-average benchmark. FireFlash has it on the list for the 2018 season...