posted Jan 29th, 2023 - The NSL News covered the significant changes in the lineup of the German national 8-way team Airbus Oceanside with the update on January 23. Only three members of the bronze-medalist lineup at the FAI Outdoor World Championship 2022 (Thomas Spielvogel, Carl Enders, Steffen Schiedek) and team videographer Erik Lorenz will continue with the new lineup.

The same update mentioned that Linda Köb, the only female member of the previous Airbus lineup, Linda Köb, will not continue with training and competition in 4-way and 8-way both any longer. She had competed with Meltemi Oceanside in 4-way Women at the same world meet in Eloy, as well.

Even being a part of the two German national outdoor teams, Airbus and Meltemi, had not been enough for Linda Köb. She has also been training and competing with Piteraq, the German national indoor team in 4-way Women, while she was working on the bronze medal opportunity with Airbus and competing with Meltemi at the outdoor world championship.

Linda Köb's 4-way team mate Petra Jastram has been in the same 4-way situation since she was recruited for Piteraq's 2022 lineup. She had started with the Meltemi outdoor team at the German outdoor championship of 2021, the qualification for last year's world championship. Then she replaced Carola Fietz before the qualification for the next indoor world championship. Carola Fietz was recently recruited for the new Airbus 8-way lineup.

FAI Outdoor World Meet 2022			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		20,16,B		P,D,21,13		17,K,11		E,A,19,22		2,9,M		C,14,F,12		3,6,18		4,10,1		8,Q,O,H		5,7,J		Total	Avg
1	Paraclete XP8	US	25	-1	20		20	-1	18	-1	18		19	-1	23		26	-1	16	-2	20	-2	205	20.5
2	Qatar Falcons	QA	21	-1	14	-2	16	-1	17		16		15	-1	19	-1	20	-1	14	-1	12	-4	164	16.4
3	Airbus	DE	18		14		14		13		4	-1	12	-2	16		16		12		14		133	13.3
Rank	4-way Women		20,16,B		P,D,21,13		17,K,11		E,A,19,22		2,9,M		C,14,F,12		3,6,18		4,10,1		8,Q,O,H		5,7,J		Total	Avg
1	NFTO	UK	18		23		21		21		25		15	-2	17		14	-1	23		23		200	20.0
2	Nephtys	FR	16	-2	20	-1	19		21		23		14		17		14	-1	24		21		189	18.9
3	XPG4	US	17	-1	21	-1	18	-1	20	-1	20	-3	16		15		15		21	-2	21		184	18.4
4	Meltemi Oceanside	DE	15		17		13		17		20		14		14		9	-2	18		16		153	15.3

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Airbus 8-way - Meltemi Oceanside at the FAI Outdoor World Meet 2022 - Video Footage Courtesy of FAI/ISC and OmniSkore!HD

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Linda Köb decided not to continue with the Airbus 8-way team to have more time for 4-way training and competition, while Carola Fietz did not have her former Skynamite 4-way commitment any longer. The new assignments seem to fit together very well.

Germany's 4-way Women indoor team Piteraq won their own FAI bronze medals at the FAI Indoor World Cup 2022, before only Linda Köb added the FAI 8-way world championship bronze medal to her own collection. Her 4-way teammate Petra Jastram did not compete in 8-way in Eloy and will attend her first FAI world championship in Slovakia this year with Piteraq.

It will be more challenging for Piteraq to win an FAI indoor medal at the world championship. The U.S. delegation in Charleroi last year did not include a team in 4-way Women, and the outdoor world champions from Russia, Bubbles, were not invited to the event.

4-way or 8-way teams from Russia are still banned from participation at FAI/ISC events, while U.S. team XPG4 will travel to Slovakia in April. This means that Piteraq need at least a 24.6 performance to challenge XPG4 on their 2022 level.

FAI Indoor World Cup 2022			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Women		O,18,14		L,C,F,9		1,J,H,19		3,E,P,Q		20,7,16		2,13,8		17,D,6		N,22,A,G		12,5,11		M,21,4		Total	Avg
1	HF Cubs	CZ	24		47	-2	24	-5	34	-2	23	-2	23		30		32		22		26	-1	285	28.5
2	Nephtys	FR	22		44	-1	28		33	-2	23		20	-1	29		29	-1	21	-1	23	-1	272	27.2
3	Piteraq	DE	19		37		23		30	-1	17	-2	17		24		21		16	-1	22		226	22.6
4	Skynamite	DE	17	-1	35		23	-1	25	-3	19		16	-1	25		22		15	-2	22		219	21.9
5	Windwerk EOS	CH	14	-2	30		20		25		17		16		21		19		14	-1	17	-3	193	19.3
6	Squadra Militare Femminile	IT	12		19	-3	15		14		12		11	-1	14		15		9	-1	14		135	13.5
7	Fatal Four	NL	11	-1	18	-2	14		16		12	-1	12		14		8	-3	9	-2	15		129	12.9

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Piteraq at the German Indoor Nationals 2022 and at the FAI Indoor World Cup 2022 - Footage Courtesy of FAI/ISC/Airspace Charleroi

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Piteraq and Meltemi have both been in training since Linda Koeb and Petra Jastram returned from Arizona. Piteraq will be their first competition assignment, as the indoor world championship in Slovakia is scheduled for April, and the next qualification for the outdoor world championship in Israel 2024 follows later in the summer at the German outdoor nationals.

Piteraq will be back with the same lineup as in 2022. The team's 22.6 average at the indoor world cup last year is a solid foundation for lifting the performance level to potential FAI indoor medal level. Bubbles from Russia will still not be able to compete in Slovakia, and XPG4 start the 2023 season with a new team member, as the NSL News reported on January 10th.

Linda Koeb's and Petra Jastram's focus will switch to outdoor training and competition with Meltemi Oceanside right after the indoor world championship. The Meltemi lineup is not the same as in Eloy 2022. Stephanie Meyer stepped back after two year's with Meltemi and her second outdoor world championship.

Franzi Wiesler, a young and talented German 4-way competitor, replaces Stephanie Meyer. The new Meltemi lineup have completed the first phase of indoor training for outdoor competition, and the team is highly motivated for the coming outdoor season with the important national outdoor championship. Outdoor training will begin in March at the Oceanside skydiving center in California. Meltemi plan to compete at the outdoor world cup in Norway and win the 4-way Women qualification at the German outdoor championship. The team commitment includes the next FAI outdoor world championship in Israel 2024.