PG3 is where experience becomes judgement: active air, mountain terrain, advanced wing control and cross-country decisions brought together into one coherent standard.
PG3 — ADVANCED PILOT
Held for at least 12 months.
Minimum 100 flight hours.
Minimum 250 logged flights.
1×30 km or 3×20 km in NZ; or 1×60 km overseas.
You may already launch confidently and fly independently. PG3 asks a deeper question: can you recognise what the air and terrain are doing, manage the wing when it becomes dynamic, and make deliberate decisions when the easy option disappears?
Infinity helps you connect the hours, manoeuvres, mountain flying and XC experience into a dependable system. The goal is not simply to satisfy a checklist. It is to become the pilot who understands what is happening, sees choices earlier and acts with precision.
The rating matters because of the pilot it represents: capable in more demanding terrain, technically prepared when the wing becomes dynamic, and able to make sound decisions over distance.
Understand mountain terrain, high-altitude operations, changing wind and unfamiliar landing areas before they narrow your choices.
Develop precise control through pendulum management, wingovers, steep spirals, rapid descents and advanced manoeuvres over water.
Thermal efficiently, choose a line, manage airspace and terrain, and complete a documented XC flight without abandoning good decisions.
We begin with what you have already achieved: hours, flights, sites, height gains, high-altitude launches, SIV experience and XC tracklogs.
Your next training is chosen for a reason—mountain judgement, active-air handling, landing assessment, thermal technique or another specific gap.
Advanced manoeuvres are completed over water, while your qualifying cross-country flight is documented with a 3D GPS tracklog.
Once the practical, experience, theory and First Aid requirements are complete, your instructor checks the evidence and certifies the application.
Advanced skills give you more ways to manage height, energy and an unsettled wing. They expand what you can respond to.
The real progression is recognising the developing situation soon enough that the most dramatic response is rarely the one you need.
The essentials below follow the current NZHGPA OPMF25 PG3 certificate form dated 29 August 2025. The official form remains the controlling document.
Competent high-altitude or mountain flying; assessing unfamiliar landing areas; determining wind direction in flight; pendulum action; wingovers; steep spirals; and big ears.
50% collapse with fast correction; 50% collapse corrected after a 180° turn; front stall; full stall; pre-negative feel; and negative spin. B-line stall is optional.
PG2 held for 12 months; 100 hours and 250 flights; qualifying XC tracklog; 5 high-altitude take-offs; 10 flights gaining more than 500 ft; and 30-minute soaring flights from more than 5 sites.
At least 90% in OPMF32 within 60 minutes, completed no more than 12 months before application; a current First Aid certificate; an accurate logbook; GPS evidence; and instructor certification.
PG3 develops across real flying, and you must have held PG2 for at least 12 months before applying. We support you through targeted coaching, SIV, XC and assessment days, signing each requirement only when it is competently achieved.
Send us your logbook, current totals, completed courses and best GPS tracks.
We identify the next skill that will improve your flying—not merely the next box.
Build the skill in suitable conditions and preserve the evidence as you progress.
Complete the exam, First Aid and instructor sign-off, then submit the full application.
The rating is individual. Your first useful step is understanding what you have already completed and what still needs deliberate work.
Tell us your current hours, flights, SIV experience and best XC track. We will help you map the most valuable next step toward PG3.
Build a precise understanding of collapses, stalls, spin, energy and recovery over water, with each exercise developed progressively.
Strengthen thermal technique, route selection, terrain awareness, airspace planning and the judgement needed to complete a qualifying flight well.