Anyone available to review logbooks?

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rickdrey

Filing Flight Plan
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rickdrey
My wife and I are purchasing our first airplane, and have come across some potential issues in the logbooks. We don't really want to send it to an inspection if these are red flags to people who are more experienced than we are

Would anyone be available to take a look at the logbooks, and let us know if they have concerns with the same things we are seeing?

Thanks in advance!
 
Do you have a mechanic that you’re planning to use when you buy an airplane? Seems like that person would be a good choice.
 
MauleSkinner said:
Do you have a mechanic that you’re planning to use when you buy an airplane? Seems like that person would be a good choice
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The logbook review is just a part of their pre buy. I'm just seeing if anyone will do a look at them quickly before we send it off to inspection
 
rickdrey said:
The logbook review is just a part of their pre buy. I'm just seeing if anyone will do a look at them quickly before we send it off to inspection
Click to expand...
What if whoever looks at the logs doesn’t have concerns, but the person who would be maintaining/inspecting the airplane if you bought it disagrees?
 
Pay your local mechanic to look the logs over. That way you get expert, not internet, advice. If this mechanic does the pre-buy, you already bought and paid for part of the inspection you have to do anyway.
 
Best to use your A&P, but if that’s not an option Savvy will do a logbook review for free. You’ll need them scanned into a pdf.
 
rickdrey said:
My wife and I are purchasing our first airplane, ...
Click to expand...

MauleSkinner said:
Do you have a mechanic that you’re planning to use when you buy an airplane? Seems like that person would be a good choice.
Click to expand...

rickdrey said:
The logbook review is just a part of their pre buy. I'm just seeing if anyone will do a look at them quickly before we send it off to inspection
Click to expand...
It's your first plane purchase. Listen to the folks who have done it many times.

The logbook review is part of whose pre buy? "Their" refers to whom?

What do you mean by "send it off to inspection?" First, what is "it" in that context, the logs or the plane?

Who/what is "inspection?"
 
Is it the cost your trying to avoid,find a mechanic you trust and pay them for a couple of hours.
 
Kinda keep in mind that logbooks are a history of repairs, maintenance and inspections. Logbooks don’t tell you if repairs were completed correctly or identify current issues.
 
What others are alluding to is that it's a good idea to have a mechanic you trust before you buy a plane. That can be very difficult for your first aircraft, but it's still excellent advice. Find a mechanic, pay them to review the logs, and use the experience to decide if you want them to be your mechanic. You need a mechanic on your side. Best time to start building that relationship is before you buy. You are going to need someone to sign off on future annuals, THAT is who you should be having do this kind of work.
 
It would be good if a Buyer learns to read logbooks.They can always flag entries that

need interpretation. They have the financial risk. A growing number of Techs are reluctant to do a

Prebuy or give a recommendation as Buyers want to use this as a WARRANTY.
 
Many POA members here remember when 20 year old aircraft with 5000 hours was a big deal. Many of those aircraft only had about ten pages of logbook entries. Many of those aircraft had 6 or so form 337s. Today aircraft are commonly +50 years old and have 3 or 4 logbooks with hundreds of entries. Recently I saw a plane with +35 form 337s.

I wish you folks the best with your first aircraft acquisition but, reviewing "Aircraft Records" has become a very big request. Logbooks are just a small part of the history of an aircraft. The "Aircraft Records" is what needs reviewed because there's a lot more to the history of an aircraft then a couple dozen Annual and transponder check entries.

There's inspection reports, Airworthiness Directives, Weight & Balance and Equipment List accuracy. Form 337/STC review and does the aircraft have a flight manual with all it's supplements? What are the recommended overhaul times compared to the current times? Private owned aircraft do not need to follow manufactures recommendations but, their recommendations are for the best reliability. Aircraft with many over due components will result in more frequent failures. Just a fair warning, an aircraft with little to no 'Preventative Maintenance' will most definitely become a money pit.
 
Magman said:
It would be good if a Buyer learns to read logbooks.They can always flag entries that

need interpretation.
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Sounds like the OP has looked at the logbooks and identified entries that need interpretation.
 
Different mechanics will have different opinions. You should basically make a list of the last time each item was overhauled and then you’ll know what you’ll have to fix and when.
 
My take on this is that when the OP says "send it off to inspection" it means they have decided to purchase the aircraft however there is something of question in the logs that may cause them to decide not to.
 
Well, if you know what specifically looks concerning maybe go ask your mechanic if you could pay him for an hour of his time to look at just those concerns with you. He doesn’t have to inspect everything in every log book right now.
 
Keep in mind why you look at the logs. It's not to guarantee the plane is in tip-top shape. It's to determine if there are any red flags hiding within (like prop strikes or other serious damage), and to infer the quality of an attention to maintenance over the years, and determine if there is enough deferred maintenance to make the plane very expensive to bring up to par. Poorly documented or missing AD compliance, for example, would be concerning. Some ADs, if they are not complied with AND documented, can require major disassembly to determine if they were accomplished, if that is even possible. When I was buying my planes, and helping a colleague find a plane, I saw some pretty gnarly logbooks.
 
I paid a mechanic very experienced with the make I was looking into. Saved me twice. Overall, reviewing 4 sets of logs, total cost was about the cost of filling the tanks for near empty once.
 
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