Logbooks are a very important part of your aircraft’s history. It keeps the truth of what has happened prior to your ownership because the documentation has been recorded stating what inspections have been done. They also help keep track of your engine time and airframe time as this is logged every inspection. Log entries are made every time work is done on an aircraft by a registered A&P or I/A mechanic. This includes 50 hour oil changes, 100 hour inspections, annual inspections, or simply just a repair of a squawk you discovered in your most recent cross country.
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Logbooks also help to keep the value of your aircraft at its highest. The logbook history of the aircraft will help someone identify the airworthiness status of the aircraft. It will highlight any major repairs (Form FAA 337) which may indicate damage history. Typically, when logbooks are missing the value of the plane can drop anywhere from 10%-30% depending on the aircraft type and the number of missing records. A 1980 Mooney that is missing the first 20 years of its history with 6,000 hours total time will lose much more value than a 2006 182 Skylane missing the first year of logs with only 800 hours total time. However, both would still lose value with missing its history.
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If you are missing a singular log entry or several year’s worths, not all hope is lost. If given enough paperwork alongside the existing incomplete logbooks there is a chance of finding or recreating the missing entries. You will have to hope the maintenance shop used to maintain the plane kept meticulous records of every plane that came through its shop and has the previous log entries saved somewhere. If not, you can request the documentation submitted to the FAA using this link https://aircraft.faa.gov/e.gov/nd/. Although this won’t bring back logbooks and log entries it will help in the discussion of damage history, modifications, and airworthiness.
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If purchasing a plane with more recent logbooks missing, the aircraft may not be airworthy. The way to solve this is to have it taken to an aircraft maintenance shop and thoroughly inspected. They will get a current AD report and go through every part of the plane. They are checking for anything showing signs of damage, repairs, small issues, airworthiness items, and more. As long as you pass the inspection or have the airworthiness items repaired they can certify your aircraft is airworthy and start a new logbook for you.
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The three main logbooks you need to keep up with are the airframe, engine, and propeller. Airframe logbooks should stay with the plane its whole life, unlike engine and propeller logs. Even when changing N-numbers on an aircraft the airframe logs stay. Oftentimes, you will find planes with damage history that have swapped N-numbers trying to play it off as if the aircraft is one hundred percent and has a clean background. This is why the airframe logbooks go off of serial numbers as well as N-numbers, whereas engine logs go primarily off of the serial numbers of the engine. If you have a Cessna 182Q with an O-470-U but choose to purchase a new Texas Skyways IO-550 to swap on, the logbooks will restart for the new engine. If you choose to sell your old O-470-U, then the logbooks keeping up with it will go with the engine. This helps to show when it was last overhauled and if there are any issues with it such as oil consumption or overheating of a certain cylinder.
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However, there are several different ways to keep logs safe. Due to the advancement of technology, we no longer have to only rely on paper from 1960 staying in perfect condition to keep logs legible. We can now scan the logs and upload them to different websites such as Google Drive or Dropbox. To keep the paper logs safe, it’s highly recommended to get a fireproof safebox large enough to hold all the paperwork. Another suggestion is, not to keep the logbooks inside your airplane. This is a common misconception when it comes to owning an aircraft and having maintenance done to it. As an aircraft owner, you are able to put the log entry given to you by the I/A or A&P mechanics into your own logbooks at your home. This helps to lessen the risk of anything happening to the logbooks, unlike if you were to travel with them and potentially expose them to the elements. The last thing you want to happen to your logs is to get wet or blown apart by a strong gust of wind. Taking the log entry home and entering it in yourself lessens the chance of something happening as you are now only taking it from your fireproof safe box to your desk and back. The less risk the better.
Your aircraft logbooks should follow it around for all of its flying life and beyond. It is highly recommended you take meticulous care of these books otherwise your aircraft could lose a large percentage of retail value. This can be prevented, it just takes time and care.