Disaster Preparedness

[poadeleted20]

Last weekend, the barn at Fran's stable burned to the ground shortly before dawn. The horses were all out in the pastures for the night, but everything in the barn was destroyed. Fran's spent the last week trying to construct a list for the insurance company (all covered by our USAA homeowner's policy, fortunately, and at replacement cost) all the things she had out there from saddles and tack to horse care stuff to whatever else horse owners keep in the stable and tack room. The tally is up over $15K, and each day, she thinks of something she hadn't remembered. We hope she doesn't forget something expensive until after the settlement goes final. No doubt many of us keep similar piles of stuff in our hangars -- tools, parts, hardware, supplies, furniture, cabinets, equipment, PowerTows, refrigerators, barbecue grills, you-name-it.

Now, how many of us have a complete list of all that stuff?

If you don't have a full inventory of all the contents of your hangar, and something really bad happens, you may have trouble reconstructing that list for the insurers, not to mention if you get a finicky one who wants proof all that stuff existed. Many folks keep a photo inventory of their homes, but how many of us keep one of our hangars? Probably a good idea to go in there with some sort of imaging system and do a full sweep (with all cabinets open) about every six months. It's on my list for this week.

 

[AdamZ]

Better than a list is video.

 

[rmciottijr]

And don't forget about your aircraft logs. Don't just protect them for fire but also water, hurricanes and tornadoes you can't replace them with an insurance policy.

 

[Pilawt]

And don't forget about your aircraft logs. Don't just protect them for fire but also water, hurricanes and tornadoes you can't replace them with an insurance policy.

I scan 'em. pdf copies are kept at multiple locations; and on a thumb drive in the airplane in case they're needed in the field.

 

[gprellwitz]

Good reminder, Ron. Thanks! As Adam said, a video might be even better. And scans not only of your airplane log books but your pilot log books and medical records, including prescriptions. Put them all on a COUPLE of USB thumb drives. Attach one to your key chain so you have it on you if you need to skedaddle for a hurricane/tornado/flood/fire/terrorist threat, and another in a safe deposit box. Put your computer backups (USB hard drive) in the safe deposit box too, and refresh it quarterly or so, depending on the volatility of the data.

 

[murphey]

Another item in addition to photos/videos - track ALL the serial numbers on everything. i have a page of serial numbers for everything relating to the aircraft. I have another list for everything in the house (computers and equipment, musical instruments, home theatre, etc).

Each year, when I finish the taxes, I burn 3 copies of all my records on DVD. One goes to the safe deposit box. One goes into my "fire resistant" box in the basement. The third I keep handy at the computer for reference.

Each time there's 4-6 new pages for the airplane log book, they get scanned and new DVDs get burned. Another advantage - when I decide to sell the aircraft, I can send out copies of the DVDs for potential buyers to review the logs.

Backups? Every week or more often depending what I'm doing.