posted Dec 31st, 2017 - The NSL News mentioned on 29 December that the Belgian success in 8-way with FlyIn Machine 44 was based on the concept of combining two well trained 4-way teams, NMP PCH HayaBusa and ISR FireFlash, and add some 8-ways to both teams' training and meet agenda.

HayaBusa attended eight indoor and outdoor 4-way meets in 2017, FireFlash seven. The HayaBusa/FireFlash combination then competed at three additional 8-way meets with FlyIn Machine 44. The three 8-way meets were parts of events where both teams also competed in 4-way, French Indoor Nationals at Weembi, FAI World Cup in Saarlouis and USPA Nationals in Perris.

The concept of two well trained 4-way teams successfully joining forces for training and competition in 8-way is not new, and it does not include the Golden Knights who have almost always had two 4-way teams who trained and competed in 8-way. The Golden Knights had their priority on the 8-way event, with an exception for a time period between 2002 and 2008.

Arizona Airspeed created a combined 4-way and 8-way project after the original lineup (Jack Jafferies, Mark Kirkby, Kirk Verner, Dan BC, John Lemming on camera) had won their second set of 4-way gold medals in 1997. Skydive Arizona owner Larry Hill also wanted gold medals in 8-way when Craig Girard moved to Eloy after his 8-way career with the Golden Knights.

USPA Nationals 2017			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		G,22,1	9,6,2	D,7,17	8,J,C,K	Q,B,14,20	19,15,4	A,10,13	12,M,N,P	H,O,3,16	5,21,11	Total	Avg
1	Golden Knights	US	22	17	16	19	21	22	19	21	28	17	202	20.2
G	Fly-In Machine 44	BE	23	16	17	16	15	21	16	20	26	15	185	18.5
G	Qatar Falcons	QA	16	12	15	12	15	16	13	17	20	13	149	14.9
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	17	14	11	15	15	17	14	13	18	13	147	14.7
G	Amphibious Attack Tigers	US	18	12	13	10	13	18	14	16	15	11	140	14.0
6	SDC Rhythm XP8	US	12	11	12	13	11	15	12	15	14	12	127	12.7
7	Paraclete XP8	US	13	11	10	11	12	14	12	11	14	10	118	11.8
8	Spaceland Gummies 8	US	11	11	8	7	10	12	9	10	10	9	97	9.7
G	Perris Spider Pigs	US	5	7	4	5	6	5	7	5	4	7	55	5.5

Airspeed selected a second half for the 8-way lineup in 1998. Craig Girard, John Eagle, Gary Beyer and Alan Metni completed the 8-way lineup, and the focus was primarily on 8-way in the first year. It was a very successful start, as Airspeed's original lineup won the USPA 4-way competition one more time, and Airspeed's first 8-way lineup outscored the Golden Knights on home turf in Eloy.

The same Airspeed 8-way lineup won FAI/IPC gold in Australia 1999, while the same original 4-way team ended up in 2nd place behind France, six points short of the third consecutive world championship 4-way title with the same lineup.

The second half of Airspeed's 8-way lineup was in full 4-way training in 1999 and contributed heavily to Airspeed's first 8-way gold medals in Australia. In fact, both Airspeed 4-way lineups won gold and silver at the USPA Nationals in Sebastian. Craig Girard, John Eagle, Gary Beyer and Alan Metni now competed under Airspeed Purple and had to beat Space Center FX (Neal Houston, Joey Jones, Chris Irwin, Doug Park) to finish right behind Airspeed's original 4-way lineup.

Jack Jefferies, Mark Kirkby, Kirk Verner and Dan BC retired as a 4-way team at the end of the 1999 season, while the Airspeed project with two 4-way teams combining for 8-way continued with full strength.

USPA Nationals 1998		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open	K,9,1	14,O,4	P,5,D,B	16,13,F	10,A,C,11	L,18,23	17,2,G	6,15,J	12,20,8	E,24,19	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	21	24	23	24	21	20	16	22	18	18	207	20.7
2	Golden Knights	24	23	23	19	13	20	15	24	17	20	198	19.8
3	Dr. Evil's 8-way	11	11	9	10	10	10	7	12	8	10	98	9.8
3	DeLand Genesis	10	13	7	14	8	9	12	13	6	6	98	9.8
5	Dallas 8 Track	11	10	8	9	7	9	7	9	5	7	82	8.2
6	Perris Passion	11	4	3	10	6	10	8	9	9	8	78	7.8
7	Space Center FX	0	8	6	7	1	7	2	5	-	-	36	4.5
8	Optic Point	5	3	4	5	3	2	1	2	-	-	25	3.1

The Airspeed 2000 season began with Airspeed Vertical (John Eagle, Mark Kirkby, Craig Girard, Neal Houston, Marc Steinbaugh on camera) and Airspeed Zulu (Kirk Verner, Chad Smith, Alan Metni, Christopher Irwin, Steve Nowak on camera).

Result of the new 2000 combination was the next USPA gold medal in 8-way over the Golden Knights, while Airspeed Vertical also won the 4-way competition.

Airspeed tried again to win FAI gold in 4-way and 8-way at the World Meet 2001 in Spain, and the results were reversed this time: Airspeed Vertical won in 4-way, and the 8-way team lost by one single point to Russia.

Airspeed still continued with the same concept. Airspeed Vertical came back for two more years, while Airspeed Zulu had a new lineup at the USPA Nationals 2002, with Kirk Verner, Alan Metni, Gary Beyer and Jeremy Peters.

Airspeed won the 8-way gold medals once again over the Golden Knights, while Vertical had a rude awakening in Ottawa.

The Golden Knights had changed direction and won the 4-way competition and the qualification for the next world meet. Only the Airspeed 8-way team would compete for the U.S. delegation in Gap 2003 - and lost again to the Russians. The Golden Knights finished in 2nd place, as well.

The end of the 2003 season was slowing down the Airspeed project with two well trained 4-way teams. The 8-way lineup won again at the USPA Nationals 2003, while Airspeed Vertical ended up in 3rd place in Lake Wales.

The 8-way team (Craig Girard, Mark Kirkby, Neal Houston, John Eagle, Kirk Verner, Eliana Rodriguez, Dennis Rook, Todd Hawkins, Andy Honigbaum, Steve Nowak on camera) trained for the FAI World Meet 2004 in Croatia and won gold this time, while DeLand Majik competed in 4-way.

Two strong 4-way lineups were back in 2005. Airspeed Odyssey (Craig Girard, Eliana Rodriguez, Andy Delk, Brian Johnson, Will Pesek on camera) trained and competed with Airspeed Velocity (Kirk Verner, Neal Houston, Dennis Rook, Andy Honigbaum) and won the next 8-way titles at the USPA Nationals 2005 and 2006.

The new Airspeed Odyssey lineup, with Mark Kirkby back in the tail slot, then began to focus only on 4-way training and eventually won gold at the FAI World Meet 2008 in Maubeuge. Airspeed did not have a trained second 4-way lineup any longer in 2008, even though the 8-way team still won the USPA gold medals easily in Eloy.

Airspeed has only focused on 4-way competition ever since, while the Golden Knights have been dominating in 8-way, first in the United States, then in the world.