Wingsuit: When and How to Start Without Getting Hurt

There's a specific moment in every skydiver's career when the wingsuit stops being 'that weird thing other people do' and becomes an obsession. It usually happens watching someone on exit: the canopy hasn't opened yet and they're already flying — horizontal, silent, a wing sewn onto their body. My moment came at Empuriabrava, somewhere around my 300th jump. I was watching a group of wingsuit flyers exit the Twin Otter and thinking: when is it my turn?

The honest answer is: not when you think. And this article is written precisely to explain why — and to give you a serious roadmap for getting there.

The Requirements: 200 Jumps Are the Floor, Not the Ceiling

ENAC regulates wingsuit as a Special Technique (CS), with specific requirements that must be verified in the current version of the applicable regulations. The international industry benchmark — and what reputable schools apply — typically calls for a minimum of 200 documented jumps at most schools, though the regulatory number should always be confirmed in the current ENAC regulations, with a substantial portion of those jumps in freefall with solid body control.

But be clear: 200 jumps are not an automatic pass. They're the number below which no serious instructor will put a suit on you. They're the number above which the conversation can begin. The distinction is subtle but significant.

What does a wingsuit instructor actually look for before saying yes? They look at how you fly. They look at whether you're stable in a box position, whether you can manage a spin without losing your mental altitude awareness, whether your pull is clean and automatic. They look at whether you have experience with tracking and angle flying — because wingsuit is, at its core, extreme tracking with a wing sewn on. They look at your logbook not to count the pages, but to understand what you did with those jumps.

I've seen skydivers with 400 jumps who weren't ready. And I've seen rare cases with 200 solid jumps — made at different locations, across different disciplines — who were. Your logbook tells a story: make sure yours makes sense.

The ENAC CS Wingsuit: What You Need on the Regulatory Side

In Italy, to fly a wingsuit within licensed skydiving activity, you must obtain the Special Technique Certification (CS) for Wingsuit, endorsed on your ENAC licence. This is not a 'D licence' or an FAI/USPA rating: it's a specific authorisation under Italian regulations, added to the standard skydiving licence.

The precise requirements — number of jumps, type of experience required, examination procedures — are defined in the ENAC Parachuting Licence Regulations. I strongly recommend checking the current version directly at enac.gov.it or through your ENAC-certified skydiving school. The numbers change with regulatory revisions, and quoting them from memory is the fastest way to spread misinformation.

What doesn't change is the underlying logic: ENAC requires that you have sufficient documented experience and that you have completed a recognised training programme. The First Flight Course is the backbone of that programme.

The First Flight Course: What Really Happens in Those Two Days

The FFC — First Flight Course — is the rite of passage. Two days, typically, with a certified wingsuit instructor. It's not a course that teaches you to fly: it's a course that teaches you to survive your first wingsuit jumps and build the correct technical foundation from which everything else develops.

The standard programme includes:

Ground theory: suit aerodynamics, the effects of the wing on your body, exit management, wingsuit-specific emergency procedures (which are different from those in a box position — we'll come back to that).

Ground simulations: exiting the door, flight position, how to open your arms in sequence without losing stability, how to set up your pull in advance.

Progressive jumps: your first flight in a small suit, with the instructor in formation or in close supervision. High altitude, high pull, no aerobatics. Fly straight, monitor altitude, open.

The FFC is not optional. There's no such thing as 'I'll borrow a friend's suit and give it a go.' Well — there is, but it's the fastest way to become a statistic.

Suit Progression: The Rule Nobody Wants to Hear

Suit progression is the principle of starting with a small suit and gradually working up to larger wing surfaces. It's the most ignored rule in wingsuit flying — and the one that causes the most accidents.

The logic is as simple as it is brutal: a large suit amplifies everything. It amplifies performance, yes. But it also amplifies mistakes. A poorly managed transition that costs you a few metres of altitude in a small suit can cost you your opening altitude in a large one.

The typical progression follows this general framework (jump thresholds within the suit should be confirmed with your instructor and current regulations):

Entry-level / beginner suit: your first dozens of wingsuit jumps. Limited wing surface, moderate glide ratio, predictable handling. This is where you learn to fly — not to impress.

Intermediate suit: once you're comfortable with the fundamentals — stable exit, controlled tracking, clean and automatic pull — you can move to a suit with more surface area. Not before.

Advanced / performance suits: acrobatics, proximity, high-speed flocking. This is territory for people with hundreds of jumps in a suit — not hundreds of total jumps.

At a freefly camp, you sometimes see skydivers with around 600 total jumps show up with a performance suit bought online. The instructor stops them before boarding. It wasn't cruelty — it was respect for their life.

Typical Accidents: What Goes Wrong and Why

Wingsuit has a learning curve that resembles many technical sports: flat at the beginning (it seems easy), then a dangerous plateau where you feel competent before you actually are. Accidents cluster in two parts of the curve: the very first jumps (due to lack of preparation) and the intermediate phase (due to overconfidence).

The most common scenarios:

Unstable or delayed pull: the wingsuit changes your body geometry and access to the main handle. Anyone who hasn't practised the pull in ground simulation will find themselves reaching for it with arms partially locked by the wing. The result is a low, slow, or missed pull.

Unstable exit: leaving the aircraft in a wingsuit requires specific technique. A bad exit can send the skydiver into a spin or violent backslide within seconds of leaving the plane, with altitude dropping fast.

Formation collision: wingsuit flies faster and along wider trajectories than classic freefly. Break-off separation is critical and must be planned with surgical precision.

Opening in a non-optimal position: the canopy behaves differently when deployed during a glide rather than from a neutral body position. Hard openings, partial malfunctions, and line twists are more common on early jumps if pull technique is not correct.

Low pull in proximity: this is the territory of serious accidents in wingsuit BASE and wingsuit proximity flying. It's not your concern on your first jumps at a drop zone — but it's worth knowing where the road leads if you skip the steps.

Schools in Europe: Where to Do Your FFC

In Europe there are a number of reference dropzones and instructors for wingsuit. I won't rank them — the landscape shifts, instructors move around, camps are organised seasonally — but I can give you the criteria for choosing well.

Empuriabrava (Girona, Spain) is considered one of Europe's benchmark DZs for jump volume and discipline variety. There are internationally recognised wingsuit instructors, large aircraft, and well-established logistics. I did some of my most formative jumps there, and the average quality of instruction is high. For an FFC, it's one of my first recommendations.

Skydive Arizona (Eloy, AZ) is a chapter unto itself: it's not Europe, but many consider it the world's wingsuit mecca for volume and instructor quality. If you have the chance to go for a winter camp, do it. The environment will change your perspective on flight.

In Italy, some ENAC-certified schools offer FFC courses or have qualified instructors: verify that the instructor has documented wingsuit experience and that the course follows a structured curriculum — not an improvised outing. Ask for the instructor's background, ask how many FFCs they've conducted, ask for references. A good instructor won't take offence at these questions.

The main criterion for choosing is not the most famous DZ: it's the right instructor. A serious wingsuit instructor will ask you uncomfortable questions about your logbook before they even discuss the course. If they don't, find someone else.

One Last Thing Before You Buy the Suit

With thousands of jumps behind me, an ENAC licence, and dropzones like Arizona, Dubai, and Empuriabrava on my résumé, when people ask me 'when can I start with wingsuit?', my answer is always the same: when you have enough quality jumps to afford to make a mistake and correct it — not to make a mistake and hope.

Wingsuit is one of the most beautiful experiences skydiving has to offer. The glide, the feeling of having a real wing on your body, the relative silence compared to freefly — it's a different dimension entirely. But it's a dimension that demands respect.

500 jumps are not 50. And 200 jumps are not 500. Every threshold exists for a reason, and you only understand that reason if you've lived the progression without skipping steps.

Buy the suit after the FFC, not before. Do the FFC after meeting the requirements, not before. And choose an instructor who will tell you no when the time calls for it — because that no is worth more than any premature yes.