What is Wingsuit Flying?

Table of Contents

• Skydiving Basics
• What is Wingsuit Skydiving?
• How Does a Wingsuit Work?
• Can Anyone Wingsuit?
• Step-by-Step: How to Become a Wingsuit Pilot
• Wingsuit Safety & Misconceptions
• Wingsuit BASE Jumping
• Ready to Start Flying?

Key Takeaways

Skydiving is a structured sport with many disciplines, and wingsuiting is one of the most iconic. A wingsuit – also known as a squirrel suit, gliding suit, or winged jumpsuit – adds surface area to the body, generating lift and enabling longer, more controlled flight. To begin wingsuiting, you’ll need a minimum of 200 skydives and successful completion of a Wingsuit First Flight Course. Before progressing to wingsuit BASE jumping, which comes with significantly higher risks, so it’s critical to have a strong foundation in gear checks, risk awareness, and safe progression.

Skydiving Basics

Most people think of skydiving as simply “jumping out of a plane,” but it’s much more than that. Skydiving is a structured sport with training programs, licenses, and both national and international-level competitions. At its core, it’s about freefall, stepping out of an aircraft thousands of feet above the ground, feeling the rush of flight, and deploying a parachute for a safe landing.

Once you earn your license, the sport opens up into different disciplines, or styles of flying, that you can pursue depending on your interests.

What is Wingsuit Flying?

A wingsuit is sometimes nicknamed a ‘squirrel suit’ or even a ‘gliding suit,’ but that’s not the correct term. The proper name is wingsuit, and it refers to a specialized suit that changes the way you fly. Fabric “wings” stretch between your arms and legs, increasing your surface area and turning your body into an airfoil. Instead of falling straight down, you glide forward, stay in the air longer, and cover more distance.

That’s the key difference between wingsuit skydiving and regular skydiving: the ability to truly fly across the sky.

How Does a Wingsuit Work?

You can think of a wingsuit as turning your body into a miniature aircraft:

• Suit Design
  Panels of fabric connect your arms to your torso and your legs together, creating wing-like surfaces. This winged jumpsuit catches air during freefall, generating lift and forward motion.
• Aerodynamics
  A wingsuit acts like an airplane wing (airfoil). By adjusting your body angle, you control lift versus drag. Most wingsuits achieve a glide ratio of about 2.5:1, meaning for every 1,000 feet descended, you travel about 2,500 feet forward.
• Control Surfaces
  Small movements of your arms, legs, and torso act like the control surfaces on an aircraft. Spreading your arms wider increases lift, tucking them in adds speed, and shifting your weight changes direction.
• Performance
  • Forward speed: 100-160 mph
  • Vertical speed: slowed to 25-60 mph (compared to ~120 mph in normal freefall)
  • Flight time: up to 3 minutes of freefall (versus 45-60 seconds without a suit)
  • Distance: world records exceed 20 miles on a single jump

In short, the wingsuit transforms skydiving from a straight-down fall into an extended glide, blending the freedom of flight with the adrenaline of freefall.

Can Anyone Wingsuit?

Not right away. While some countries are experimenting with wingsuit tandems, these are not available (or legal) in the U.S. and remains controversial. Wingsuits add complexity and risk to an already high-risk sport.

To qualify, you need a minimum of 200 skydives before enrolling in a Wingsuit First Flight Course. These courses provide ground training and supervised jumps where a coach teaches you how to safely deploy and control the suit. Once you demonstrate readiness, you’ll be cleared to fly solo in a wingsuit.

The progression may feel long, but it ensures safety, skill mastery, and confidence.

Step-by-Step: How to Become a Wingsuit Pilot

1. Tandem Skydive – your first taste of freefall
2. Get Licensed – begin your solo skydiving journey (USPA A License)
3. Learn to Track & Angle Fly – practice horizontal control and awareness
4. Log Jumps & Stay Current – earn your USPA B and C licenses
5. Take a Wingsuit First Flight Course – formal wingsuit training
6. Get Your First Wingsuit – consider renting before buying; start with beginner suits
7. Join the Wingsuit Community – flocking jumps, skills camps, and progression events

Wingsuit Safety & Common Misconceptions

• Myth: You can land a wingsuit. In reality, a parachute is always required. Wingsuiters use modified containers and canopies designed for consistent, reliable openings since wingsuits create more complex deployment conditions.
• Risks and training. Wingsuits increase forward speed and demand precise technique. Structured training helps manage these risks.
• Gear checks and planning. Wingsuits fit differently over skydiving equipment, so careful gear checks are critical. Because flights are longer and cover more ground, navigation and flight planning are also essential.

Wingsuit BASE Jumping

Wingsuit BASE jumping takes the discipline to the extreme. Instead of exiting from an airplane, you leap from cliffs, bridges, or buildings. The risks are exponentially higher due to lower exit altitude and proximity to terrain.

While videos of wingsuit pilots skimming treetops or canyon walls look incredible, BASE jumping is not beginner-friendly. It requires years of skydiving and wingsuit experience before being considered.

Ready to Start Flying?

Where do you begin? With your first jump. A tandem skydive is the most popular way for beginners to experience freefall. From there, you can progress into student training, earn your license, and eventually work toward wingsuiting.

This sport is incredible, but it should always be approached step-by-step. With patience and experience, you’ll gain the skills needed to safely spread your wings. Book your skydive today!