What Is Wingsuit Flying? Speed, Safety, Cost & What to Expect

Key Takeaways 
Wingsuit flying builds on traditional skydiving by adding specialized equipment and advanced skills that allow flyers to glide through the air rather than simply fall. By increasing surface area and using airflow to generate lift, wingsuiters can travel forward at high speeds while descending more gradually. While it offers an unmatched sense of flight, it also requires experience, proper training, and careful attention to gear and conditions. For those willing to put in the time – typically at least 200 skydives and a formal First Flight Course – wingsuiting can be one of the most rewarding progressions in the sport.

Flying in a wingsuit is a goal for many thrill-seekers and skydivers looking to take their skills to the next level. It combines the freedom of freefall with the sensation of true human flight. Although there’s nothing boring about freefall, wingsuiting allows you to glide across the sky and provides a different sensation than traditional freefall. 

It’s common for people to have questions about how wingsuiting works, how safe it is, how much it costs, and whether it’s something anyone can try. Let’s get into it! 

What Is Wingsuit Flying? 

Wingsuit flying is an exciting discipline that many skydivers choose to pursue as part of their progression in the sport. Wingsuit flying, or wingsuiting, is simply when someone does a skydive (or a BASE jump) while wearing a wingsuit! 

What is a wingsuit? A wingsuit in skydiving is a special jumpsuit designed to let a person glide across the sky like a flying squirrel or bird instead of just falling down. 

Hot topic: Is wingsuit flying legal in the US? Yes, traditional skydiving wingsuiting is a common US practice! We start to get into the weeds when it comes to BASE jumping and BASE wingsuiting, as not everywhere in the US permits BASE. 

How Does A Wingsuit Work? 

Wingsuits are meticulously designed. You can think of it like a highly-engineered paper airplane. When you angle the airplane nose-down and toss it, it dives; when you angle it nose-up, it generally slides further. Wingsuits sort of work the same way. 

Increased Surface Area

The fall rate in skydiving is how fast someone naturally falls toward the earth. Heavier people generally fall faster than lighter people due to terminal velocity. Similarly, people wearing baggy clothing are able to more easily slow their fall rate, than those wearing slick or tight clothing. 

Now, apply that science to wearing a wingsuit. If baggy clothes can slow how fast we fall, imagine how much we can slow down when nearly doubling our surface area with a wingsuit! This increased surface area allows wingsuiters to stay in freefall much longer than their counterparts in typical jumpsuits or street clothes. 

Airflow & Lift Dynamics

The wingsuit is shaped to direct airflow over and under its surfaces, creating lift in a similar way to an aircraft wing. By adjusting body position – changing arm and leg angles or arching more or less – the flyer can control their glide ratio, speed and direction. The balance of lift and forward motion allows wingsuiters to “fly” across the sky, covering a significant horizontal distance while descending more gradually than a typical skydiver. 

Air Inlets & Pressurization

Wingsuits have strategically placed air inlets that scoop air into the suit during flight, inflating the fabric cells between the arms, legs and torso. This pressurization gives the suit its rigid, wing-like shape, which is essential for maintaining stability and performance. The internal pressure keeps the surfaces smooth and efficient, allowing consistent airflow and better control. Without proper pressurization, the suit would collapse and lose its ability to generate lift effectively.

Glide Ratio

Wingsuit skydiving increases your glide ratio, what exactly does this mean? It means you travel farther forward for every foot you fall. Instead of dropping mostly straight down like in regular skydiving, you move forward through the air more efficiently. This is because the wingsuit creates lift, slowing your descent and extending your horizontal distance. 

How Fast Do Wingsuit Flyers Go?

Wingsuit performance (rate of descent, distance, etc.) depends on pilot skill, suit design, exit altitude, and environmental conditions. Wingsuit flyers typically travel at forward speeds of about 100-160 mph, while their vertical descent rate is much slower, usually around 30-60 mph. 

Far beyond average, Sebastián Álvarez holds the wingsuit record for fastest horizontal speed at 342 mph – can you even imagine!? 

How Dangerous Is Wingsuit Flying?

A wingsuit skydive is simply an added layer of consideration on top of a skydive. Think of it like going from driving a regular car to driving a faster car, or one with more gadgets – everything is a bit more touchy, the margins for error get smaller, and the driver’s (or skydiver’s) level of experience matters a lot more.

What is the death rate from wingsuit gliding? It’s difficult to tell. Each year, the United States Parachute Association provides a comprehensive fatality summary. The most recent summary states that there were an estimated 3.47 million skydives made in 2025. For every 100,000 skydives, there were .46 fatalities – that’s a fatality rate of 1 in ~217,000 jumps. These numbers refer to all skydives made; wingsuiting isn’t called out in the report.

Just like skydiving, wingsuiting demands intense training and dedication, meticulous upkeep of gear, and a clear mind to keep safety at the forefront. 

What about wingsuit BASE? BASE jumping is significantly more dangerous than skydiving and throwing a wingsuit into the mix only increases the risk. BASE jumpers use one parachute (rather than two), and don’t use AADs (Automatic Activation Devices) and RSLs (Reserve Static Line)  – because a BASE jump happens from such a low altitude that they wouldn’t have time to use them. 

How To Learn Wingsuit Flying 

Can a normal person do wingsuit flying? If you consider skydivers normal people, then yes, they can wingsuit! Someone must have at least 200 jumps before they’re permitted to learn to fly a wingsuit. This may seem like a high and intimidating number, but most skydivers have hundreds (if not many thousands) of skydives!

How much does it cost to go wingsuit flying? Learning to wingsuit requires taking a training course (typically called a First Flight Course) with a certified wingsuit coach; renting a suit until you’re ready to invest in one; and the cost of your jumps. First Flight Courses cost around $500 and are well worth it to get a solid foundation of skills. A wingsuit generally costs a couple thousand dollars, similar to a main parachute. 

Just like a skydiver, as soon as a wingsuiter makes the investment in their own gear, the cost of jumping significantly decreases. Jump tickets are generally around $30 to $35! 

Are you ready to start your progression into wingsuit flying? It all starts with the first jump. Book your tandem skydive today!