Wingsuit Flying

1. Prerequisites for wingsuit flying:

To try a wingsuit you must be a current, licensed skydiver with 500 jumps total OR 200 jumps in the last 18 months. (Note: these rules vary in some countries; please consult your skydiving governing body to be sure)

2. I don't meet the requirements yet / What kind of drills and skydives can I do to prepare myself for my first wingsuit flight?

Tracking dives are excellent training to understand the dynamics of wingsuit flight (high forward speed, reduced descent rate and the need to plan your flight path). Freeflying also helps develop useful air skills.

Perform solo jumps going through the exit, flight path, wave-off and deployment procedures. Experiment with putting your arms and legs into a wingsuit position after exit. (Practice deploying by putting both your hands behind your back and throwing your pilot chute symmetrically as well as doing the wave off with your legs.)

Read the wingsuit manuals available on the manufacturers' websites for more details of wingsuit procedures.

3. I've done 150 jumps in the last 12 months, why do I need to have 200 jumps before I can jump wingsuit?

Like any thing else you take into freefall, be it a sky-board, a camera helmet or a wingsuit, it makes the skydive more complicated and therefore more demanding. The wingsuit restricts your movement and adds complications to your exit, freefall, deployment and ability to deal with some malfunctions.

4. Okay, I meet the requirements what do I do next?

To make your first wingsuit flight it is highly recommended to talk to a wingsuit instructor or an experienced wingsuit pilot. They should also be able to provide you with a demo suit to try.

The instructor / experienced pilot will be able to explain the required procedures to you and make sure you have understood them correctly.

5. There are no wingsuit instructors or experienced wingsuit pilots at my dropzone, what can I do?

It is strongly recommended to consult a wingsuit instructor / experienced wingsuit pilot before jumping a wingsuit regardless of your experience level.

If you have more than 500 jumps you *could* jump a wingsuit on your own after thoroughly preparing yourself by reading all the available information from the wingsuit manufacturer / on the internet and after ample drill practice on the ground.

If you have less than 500 jumps we strongly recommend you try harder to locate a wingsuit instructor / experienced pilot. Contact the manufacturers for assistance.



6. I want to buy a wingsuit, where can I get one?

http://www.bird-man.com
http://www.phoenix-fly.com
http://www.matterclothing.com
http://www.flyyourbody.com
http://www.pressurized.at
http://www.jii-wings.com

The flybirdman.com website also contains a lot of useful information on the different suits available and about wingsuit flying in general: http://www.flybirdman.com

7. There are too many to choose from, how do I know which one I should buy!?

Searching the old posts on the dropzone.com wingsuit forum will usually provide you with user reviews of all the suits. The best option as with any product is to try the suit in person and form your own opinion.

Always check the manufacturers' requirements for each specific suit. There are suits aimed at beginner, beginner/ intermediate and experienced wingsuit pilots.

First timers should always use a beginner suit for their first few jumps. It is common for first timers to rent or borrow a beginner suit before going on to purchase their own suit.

8. What equipment do I need to fly a wingsuit?

In addition to your rig and wingsuit the following are recommended:

-BOC deployment system (no pullout / PUD or bungee collapsible PC)
-A large docile main canopy, especially for your initial jumps
-Helmet
-Goggles
-Wrist mounted altimeter (chest mounted altimeters can give false readings)
-AAD (although the AAD may not work if you fly slower than the minimum activation speed)
-Audible altimeter
-Hook knife, mounted in a location other than your legstrap (legstrap will be difficult to access inside the suit)

Optional equipment:

-Freefall computer to record descent rate (e.g. Neptune, ProTrack etc)
-GPS unit (to record 3D flight path of wingsuit to calculate glide ratio)

If you intend to perform many wingsuit skydives you could consider the following modifications to your skydiving rig:

-Longer bridle
-Dynamic / open corners on your container main tray
-Slightly larger pilot chute

9. I want to do Wingsuit BASE jumping!

Wingsuit BASE jumping is a dangerous activity that has claimed several lives so far. You must be an experienced BASE jumper and experienced wingsuit pilot before attempting to combine the two. For further information check out the Advice for Starting Wingsuit BASE here: http://www.dropzone.com/...tail_page.cgi?ID=506


*info collected from dropzone.com*

Is Skydiving a Sport?

It is often assumed that when you skydive you just fall from the sky and it takes no skill what-so-ever. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

There are two different ways to skydive, casually (for fun) or competitively. Skydiving for fun is exactly that; you jump with other people to have fun, there are no rules, no expectations, and you just have a good time jumping and learning. It’s almost always assumed that skydiving is easy and takes no skill. I mean, you’re just jumping out of a plane, right? Well actually, it takes a lot of time, training, and money to skydive competitively. Flying your body isn’t something that comes naturally nor is it something that is easy to do well.

Types of Competitive Skydiving:

• Canopy Formation
• Formation Skydiving
• Freefall Style and Landing Accuracy
• Artistic Events

Canopy Formation (below) takes place under open canopies, not in freefall. Immediately after exit, jumpers deploy their parachute and then proceed to fly to one another and link together, making different formations in the air. Numbers vary from just a few, to the world record of 85. They link together using their feet and legs, hanging onto other parachute lines, putting their feet on another parachute, or connecting to another jumpers body.


Formation Skydiving (below) is when a “team” of jumpers (4, 8, 10, etc) form a pre-planned formation or sequence of formations and maneuvers.


Freefall Style and Landing Accuracy (below) is pretty self explanatory. In Freefall Style, jumpers perform a prescribed sequence of maneuvers as quickly and correctly as possible. During Landing Accuracy, teams or individuals attempt to land on, or as near to, the center of a target as they can.


Skysurfing (below-left), Freestyle, and Freeflying (below-right) are what make up the Artistic Events category. Freestyle and Skysurfing teams perform a sequence of moves for creative and compulsory points during freefall. Skysurfing utilizes a board (snowboard-like) to do moves such as flips and spins. Freestyle is more ballet-like, using fluid like movements. Freeflying is precisely that, free. Freeflyers do a wide variety of positions including head-down, standing up, a sitting position, as well as pretty much anything else in between.


Every year, the USPA holds the National Skydiving Championships to recognize champions in each of the four competitive skydiving disciplines. Skydiving competition dates back well to the 30’s in Russia.

Why Skydive?

Skydiving isn’t for everyone, but for some, it’s a lifestyle and freedom nothing else can compare to. Every jumper has their own reason for jumping but we all have the same thing in common, the overwhelming desire to throw our bodies out of what most people call a “perfectly good airplane”.

It might just be impossible to try and explain why skydivers love the idea of standing in the open doorway of an aircraft and looking at the ground 13,000ft below; and then jumping out. If you have the itch to find out, I can help give you the information you need to make your first jump.

Getting Started

The first thing you want to do is choose a skydiving school. You can find a school in the yellow pages or even on the internet. USPA (United States Parachute Association) has a directory of Group Member skydiving schools on their website. Try to shop around, you may find that there is more than one facility in your area.

Skydiving centers that are UPSA Group Members have pledged to follow the USPA basic safety requirements. This includes providing training only by USPA rated instructors and using USPA required equipment. So feel free to ask the dropzone if they are a USPA member!

When you arrive at the dropzone you’ll be required to fill out a liability release and a registration form. These basically verify that the person getting ready to jump (you) understands that there are risks involved with skydiving. You’ll probably also watch a corny video or two. Age requirements vary from dropzone to dropzone, but the common age requirement is 18, although some dropzones allow minors 16 yrs. of age with a parents consent to jump.

You can check out some of the links at the top of the page to find some dropzones around Southern California!

Different Ways to Make Your First Jump

There are a couple different ways to make your first skydive, Tandem, the Accelerated Free Fall program, and Static Line.

Most first time jumpers choose to make a Tandem jump. This is when you and your instructor are attached together to the same parachute. You have your back to your instructor’s belly. Training for a tandem usually takes about 30 minutes. Freefall during a tandem lasts between 30 and 60 seconds and varies depending on the altitude from which you jump.

Accelerated Free Fall (AFF) is a bit more complicated. During this method, the student has their own parachute and is given intense ground training in exiting, freefall, canopy piloting, landing safely, and emergency procedures. You will exit the aircraft with two AFF instructors. As with a tandem, freefall time depends on altitude but generally lasts between 30 and 60 seconds. You open your own parachute around 5,000ft and fly yourself to the landing area.

Static Line offers the same training as the AFF program on the ground, except upon exiting the airplane solo, the parachute deploys immediately. You jump from and open around 3,500ft and proceed to fly yourself to the landing area.

It’s important to choose which training is best for you so ask your school whatever questions you may have about the programs they offer.

Is Skydiving Safe?

Generally speaking, the safety in skydiving is determined by the individual jumper and the precautions they may or may not take. It’s rare that skydiving accidents happen because of equipment failure or the luck of the draw. Preparation and judgment are usually the determining factors of a safe or unsafe skydive. Estimating the number of injuries is difficult to do accurately and a lot of accidents aren’t even reported. Between 1992 and 2005 there has been an average of 31 deaths per year out of a couple million jumps per year.
There are very few fatal accidents involving student jumpers. Student gear is usually larger in size and more forgiving than an experienced jumper’s gear, which is smaller and quicker. It’s also required by the USPA that students jump only in permitting weather conditions and clear open landing areas.