How to Get into Wingsuiting: Your Guide to Wingsuit Flying

One of the most popular disciplines in skydiving today is wingsuiting, thanks to the excitement and grace that are essential to the experience. But bridging the gap from appreciating the discipline from a distance to figuring out how to get into wingsuiting yourself might seem daunting – especially for someone who has never been skydiving. 

How hard is it to get into wingsuiting, really? Well, if you follow some specific steps, it’s not actually that difficult to start flying your own wingsuit! Read on for a guide on how to get into wingsuit flying!

What is Wingsuiting?

A wingsuit, or squirrel suit, as it’s often called in popular culture, is a full-body suit of nylon that includes winged areas under the arms and between the legs. The construction of this suit actually allows it to fill with air and become rigid, allowing the wearer to glide through the air at high speeds for great distances. Think of it almost like wearing an airplane wing – it’s just missing an engine!

The discipline of wingsuiting has grown over the years since the first wingsuit flight and includes aerobatics, distance and speed competitions, and “flocking” with large groups of other wingsuiters. It’s as if flying squirrels gained the ability to jump from great heights and play in the sky together!

Sounds like a good time, right? With dedication, patience, and a little skill, you can get into wingsuiting in five straightforward steps!

5 Steps to Get into Wingsuit Flying

Because of how popular wingsuiting has become in mainstream culture, many people wonder: Can you wingsuit without experience? While we understand the impulse to jump right to the fun stuff (see what we did there?), it’s important to take a measured approach to learning an advanced skill like wingsuiting. 

Follow these five steps and you’ll be gliding like a pro in no time:

1. Go Tandem Skydiving – The first step to learning anything about skydiving is just getting into the air, and the best way to do that is through a tandem skydive. Jumping tandem gives you a chance to experience the (often overwhelming) sensations of skydiving for the first time with the aid of an instructor who’s in control of the important stuff.
   
2. Get Licensed & Build Skydiving Skills – Wingsuit flying is a pretty advanced skill as far as skydiving disciplines go. Getting your skydiving license and developing basic in-air skills is an absolute must before you can even think about wrapping yourself in nylon wings. Besides, the United States Parachute Association (USPA) says no wingsuits until you’ve made 200 jumps!
   
3. Complete the Wingsuit First Jump Course – Just like the First Jump Course (FJC) that’s required to make your first solo jumps during licensing, wingsuiting comes with its own guided education. The Wingsuit First Jump Course will teach you everything you need to know to mitigate risk, make good decisions, and feel prepared the first time you leave the plane with wings on.
   
4. Get a Wingsuit – It’s awfully hard to go wingsuiting without a wingsuit! Wingsuits aren’t one size fits all, and there are multiple styles and manufacturers to choose from. Not to mention colors! Take the time to consider what you need out of a wingsuit and select what’s right for you, not just what’s the most popular.
   
5. Go Wingsuiting – Spread those wings and fly! The sky is your playground once you check off all of the wingsuiting to-dos. Work on new skills like barrel rolls, flocking, and carving, or just relax and enjoy the extra minutes of freefall! 

Wingsuit First Jump Course: What to Expect 

Doing anything for the first time can be daunting, and wingsuiting is no joke. Even just attending a Wingsuit First Jump Course is an act of courage, and knowing what to expect can help. 

But before you can get into the details of the course, one question needs to be answered: What qualifications do you need to wingsuit? According to the USPA, you must:

• Have a USPA B-license or foreign equivalent
• Have completed at least 200 skydives, preferably in the last 18 months
• Complete a Wingsuit First Jump Course (FFC)
• Have a wingsuit-friendly canopy (parachute)
• Have an AAD and an altimeter

Once you have everything else checked off, you’ll complete your First Jump Course and learn things like equipment selection and use, special gear checks, body position, and movement restrictions in the suit, navigation, emergency procedures, parachute deployment, and landings. 

Basically, you’ll be building on all of the knowledge you already have of responsible skydiving and tweaking it to accommodate the extra needs of the wingsuit. Your course will culminate with you making your first flight with a coach, and then the sky’s the limit!

Wingsuiting Safety Tips & Considerations

Wingsuiting is an advanced skill in skydiving and because of that, there are additional safety concerns and considerations that come with it. Understanding the risks of what you’re getting into is important to making good decisions.

Wingsuiting will change what you already know about skydiving, like when you exit the plane, how fast you fall, and how far you travel over the ground. It will also increase the emergency procedures you have to be prepared for. Taking the time to learn this new information with care will help you have a successful wingsuiting career.

Of course, practicality also matters. Because we don’t all have unlimited budgets, you’re probably wondering how much it costs to get into wingsuiting? Pricing will differ from one dropzone to the next, but the cost breakdown will be somewhere in the vicinity of:

• Tandem Jump – $280
• AFF and Licensing – $3,800
• 200 Jumps – $6,000
• Wingsuit First Jump Course – $150
• Beginner Wingsuit – $1,500 

These numbers may seem daunting, but the progression is often spread out over several years. And it’s not a grueling grind until you make your first wingsuit jump – every step of the journey is super fun and incredibly rewarding. And, besides, can you really put a price on changing your life?!
Ready to take the first step to busting your world wide open and achieving the dream of human flight? Make a tandem with us! Blue skies!