Don't Want to Repeat the Past?
Keep Good Logbooks
By Geoffrey Pence
A complete, unabridged set of logbooks is of far more use to the maintenance shop�and a potential buyer�than a Cliff Notes version that may hit the high points but is sketchy on the details.
FAA regulations require the owner of an aircraft to maintain accurate airframe, engine, and propeller logs. The logs demonstrate that all required inspections and needed repairs have been performed, that overhaul or replacement of life-limited parts has been accomplished, that only approved parts are used on the airplane, and that properly qualified technicians and inspectors have performed and approved all work. If the records for the airplane do not fulfill those requirements, technically the airplane is not airworthy. That's how important it is to keep accurate, complete logs.
Having good aircraft logs not only keeps you legal, it also precludes unpleasant surprises when you take your airplane in for service, especially to a shop that you are doing business with for the first time. If they've never seen the airplane before, the only thing they know for certain about it is what they find in the logbooks. If the maintenance records are incomplete, inaccurate, or obscure�lacking in scope and detail�you could find yourself paying dearly to educate the shop about your airplane.
At best you will have to pay for the shop's research into the inspections, maintenance, repairs, and modifications that have been performed on the aircraft. At worst you could be informed that one or more required inspections and/or modifications were not performed in the past, or that there is no record of them having been done.
Repair stations are only required to maintain records for two years, so it is possible that there is no maintenance paper trail for the airplane beyond two years in the past. That means the airplane is unairworthy until the remedial work is done and recorded in the appropriate logbooks. If the work had indeed been performed but records no longer exist, you could be facing the unhappy prospect of paying a second time for work already done.
Regulatory requirements aside, there's another powerful reason to keep accurate logs. The value of your airplane in the marketplace is based on many factors�airframe and engine time, avionics, and appearance to name a few. Logbooks are high on that list as well. If the logs are incomplete�you don't have records stretching back to when the aircraft was manufactured�the value of the airplane suffers.
But let's assume there is a complete logbook history for the airplane. Fine. However, there's more to it. The quality of those logs�the extent of information contained in the records�also affects the bottom-line value of the aircraft. A complete, unabridged set of logbooks is of far more use to the maintenance shop�and a potential buyer�than a Cliff Notes version that may hit the high points but is sketchy on the details.
How can you ensure that the logs for your aircraft remain the best that they can be? When you receive the logs back from the shop after an inspection, maintenance, or modification event, review them to make sure they are contemporary, complete, and legible, and that they reflect what you see on the shop's invoice. This is the time to ask questions, not after the bill has been paid.
If the airplane has had a foreign owner and registration in the past and some or all of the logs are in that country's format and language, it is best that you have them translated. English is the international language of aviation, but that rule is not always followed on the shop floor. I've had Japanese and even Portuguese logs translated into English. The latter was accomplished with the help of a language expert at the University of Portland.
Also, consider creating an electronic backup of the airplane's logbooks. Scan the documents and archive the electronic version in a safe place. The FAA does not require that aircraft, engine, or propeller logs be in printed form, only that they exist.
George Santayana may not have had aircraft logbooks in mind when he observed that �Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it,� but the lesson applies.
Geoffrey Pence is Customer Service Manager for Twin Commander Aircraft LLC.
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