posted Oct 11th, 2026 - Following the conclusion of the USPA Nationals 2026 at Skydive Perris in California, the NSL News has moved its focus to Skydive Arizona and the upcoming FAI Outdoor World Championship 2026. The ongoing fundraiser supporting live coverage of both events is still open, and readers can continue to contribute to the budget that makes the NSL News possible.

The first teams have arrived for the final training camp ahead of the most important event in formation skydiving competition. Both U.S. national teams, the Golden Knights in 4-way Open and Ranch TNT SDAZ in 4-way Women, were training on Saturday when a powerful storm abruptly brought the day's activities to an end. A combination of blowing sand, thunder, and strong wind gusts sent people scrambling for shelter. The storm arrived as suddenly as it passed, but training was over for the day.

Fortunately, neither aircraft nor parachutes were airborne when the storm approached, and there appears to have been no material damage. Skydive Arizona is familiar with storms of this intensity. Strong winds continued on Sunday, grounding all training and recreational skydiving activities for the entire day. The weather is expected to remain a factor over the coming days, but the outlook appears more promising for the second half of the week and the period surrounding the world championship, when conditions are forecast to be at their best.

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NSL TV Unfiltered: Skydive Arizona on October 10th

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4-way Formation Skydiving world champions since 1985

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The Golden Knights plan to spend the entire week on their final training efforts with coach Niklas Hemlin. He will also need to train with Paraclete XP8 once the U.S. 8-way team arrives in Arizona. Ranch TNT SDAZ, meanwhile, will return to the East Coast for the coming week and come back to Arizona for the weekend ahead of Round 1 on Monday, October 19.

Norway's 4-way Women team, Thyra, has also arrived at Skydive Arizona. However, the latest FAI/ISC update to the 4-way Open Class participation no longer lists the country's national team, Agera, among the registered teams. The current field of 13 teams in 4-way Open is still slightly larger than the one at Crystal Coast 2024, which featured 12 teams, but significantly smaller than the field of 21 teams at Eloy 2022.

Ranch TNT SDAZ quickly switched to indoor training when weather conditions made further jumps from Skydive Arizona's Twin Otters impossible. The 14-foot flying chamber at SkyVenture Arizona is within walking distance and offers a convenient alternative for indoor 4-way training when weather prevents outdoor jumping.

USPA Nationals 2026		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open	A,9,B,D		5,C,L,15		F,7,8		E,H,13,N		16,P,M,20		Q,G,11,21		4,12,17		22,O,2		19,6,J		18,1,K		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	47		25	-2	26		31	-1	26	-1	18		20	-1	20		23		18	-2	254	25.4
2	Golden Knights	38	-4	27	-1	25		30	-2	27	-1	19	-4	20		21		25	-1	19	-2	251	25.1
3	SDC Rhythm XP	31	-4	19	-3	20	-2	24	-3	21		17	-3	16	-1	19		20	-1	17	-1	204	20.4
4	Elsinore Elevate	35		19		21		22	-2	18		17	-1	15		16		16	-2	15	-1	194	19.4
5	Hammertime 2.0	27	-1	19		19		21	-2	19		16	-2	13	-1	16		17		14	-3	181	18.1
6	Four Warned XP	26	-4	15	-1	20	-1	21	-2	18	-1	16	-1	12	-3	16		18		13	-2	175	17.5
7	Ranch TNT SDAZ	28	-2	16	-1	19		21		17		13	-2	12		15		15	-1	14		170	17.0
8	Redline XP	24	-1	16		17		17		17		15	-1	11	-2	11	-1	16	-1	13		157	15.7
9	SDC Rhedux	24	-1	14		16	-2	16	-3	15	-1	14	-2	10		14		15	-1	13		151	15.1
10	Girls Will Be Girls	24	-1	13		15	-3	17	-1	14		14	-1	13		14		13	-2	13		150	15.0
11	Adorable AF	20	-2	14		15	-1	19		11		13		11		11	-2	14		10	-3	138	13.8
12	Chicken Bolts	16	-5	13	-2	15	-2	12	-4	12		13	-2	13	-1	12		10	-5	13	-1	129	12.9
13	Mercenaries	21		12		13	-2	17		12	-1	14		9	-1	11		9	-4	10	-1	128	12.8
14	Air Raid XP	21		10	-1	15	-2	10	-8	13	-1	14		7	-4	11		13	-1	10	-3	124	12.4
15	AeroGiRhls	12		8	-1	11	-1	14		9		8	-1	7		10		8		8	-1	95	9.5
16	Perris 3 D & Dan	13		9	-1	11	-1	5	-3	8		8		8	-1	8	-1	8	-1	8		86	8.6

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Ranch TNT SDAZ at the USPA Nationals 2026

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TNT coach Mark Kirkby was available to support the team this time. He had been unable to join the team he has coached throughout the year at the USPA Nationals 2026. Competing with new member Laura Hampton, the current lineup achieved a significantly improved team-record average, raising it from 14.1 to 17.0, even without their coach. Mark Kirkby's former Arizona Airspeed world champion teammate, Niklas Hemlin, stepped in to help at Skydive Perris and at other training camps this year whenever Mark Kirkby was unavailable.

Mark Kirkby and Niklas Hemlin won FAI 4-way gold medals together at Dubai 2012, following one of the most dramatic 10-round battles in 4-way history against NMP PCH HayaBusa. The contest was decided in the very last second of Round 10.

Mark Kirkby remains the most successful 4-way competitor in formation skydiving history, with five world championship gold medals to his name (1995, 1997, 2001, 2008, and 2012). Only HayaBusa's Dennis Praet could equal his record at this month's competition or at the next outdoor world championship. The NSL News published Mark Kirkby's profile just before Dubai 2012. The NSL News will try to find time to update it following a new NSL Live Talk with him.

FAI Outdoor World Championship 2026			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Women Power Rankings		TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	Total	Avg
1	Nephtys	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	Ranch TNT SDAZ	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3	Thyra	NO	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	Funky Falcon	NL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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