Ron McBride Posted November 24, 2016 Report Share Posted November 24, 2016 I have my log books in a large brief case and stored in my safe. I am overflowing with stored info, 3 airframe log books, the current engine books (2), and my new prop book. What do I need to keep, beside the log books, STC's, AD note searches, many copies, old weight and balance records, Annual Invoices and work order notes. All of the supplemental stuff with the STC's. My plane is 47 years old and ageing. Ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTaylor Posted November 24, 2016 Report Share Posted November 24, 2016 Convert it to digital and put copies in several places including the cloud. Takes up much less space. Now you don't need to keep it all in the safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DVA Posted November 24, 2016 Report Share Posted November 24, 2016 Hi Ron ... happy holiday! Here’s an FAA AC that describes maintenance record keeping. You might be surprised to see that most of these records may be discarded when the work is repeated or superseded by other work, or 1 year after the work is performed. However, what’s legally required is not necessarily the best option. For instance, when selling the aircraft complete and continuos records are essential to maintaining value. You can digitize all of the logbooks and discard the paper versions as long as the digitized version contains the legible elements required in FARs. Some people will do that, and then keep only a current paper copies for the required time, digitizing those afterwards. Others have gone totally digital. So, if you choose not to digitize but rather cull out all the excess, follow the guidance in the AC and I think you will see that you can cut a lot out but still maintain the necessary continuity. Most would end with “best advice is just keep it all”. DVA 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raptor05121 Posted November 24, 2016 Report Share Posted November 24, 2016 Just now, TTaylor said: Convert it to digital and put copies in several places including the cloud. Takes up much less space. Now you don't need to keep it all in the safe. Adding onto that- Put on your computer(s) and on a USB in a safe. FYI- A cloud is not a cloud, its simply someone else's computer. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carusoam Posted November 24, 2016 Report Share Posted November 24, 2016 Since the logs are attached to the value of the plane, store them someplace where your family can find them, after you have flown west for the final time, of course. If you have a big safe, that's where your family will go to find the important stuff. if somebody had to recreate the latest version of the logs, it may take tearing down the engine to acquire actual part numbers... Putting a number on that would be difficult, but it would costs 10s of AMUs. Generally, I use a filing cabinet and a book shelf for this kind of stuff. These documents are expensive to replace, but completely worthless to anyone looking to steal something. A fire proof safe makes some sense. The documents would cost a lot to replace. Insurance specifically would need to be reviewed for that. These are some PP thoughts, not a fireman, lawyer or document specialist. Best regards, -a- 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midlifeflyer Posted November 24, 2016 Report Share Posted November 24, 2016 8 hours ago, Raptor05121 said: FYI- A cloud is not a cloud, its simply someone else's computer. True, but that someone tends to have a lot more capable and redundant equipment than we do (assuming, of course, you're not using "Joe's Garage Cloud"). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob_Belville Posted November 24, 2016 Report Share Posted November 24, 2016 I keep my aircraft logs inthe hangar with the plane. I figure if the hangar is destroyed I won't need the logs of a totaled plane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raptor05121 Posted November 25, 2016 Report Share Posted November 25, 2016 I do NOT trust leaving logs in the hangar. Too many burglaries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonMuncy Posted November 25, 2016 Report Share Posted November 25, 2016 I keep the originals at home with a complete set of copies in the hangar. I update the copies twice a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob_Belville Posted November 25, 2016 Report Share Posted November 25, 2016 11 minutes ago, Raptor05121 said: I do NOT trust leaving logs in the hangar. Too many burglaries. Why would someone steal a (worthless-to-anyone-else) log book? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotarPilot Posted November 25, 2016 Report Share Posted November 25, 2016 7 hours ago, Bob_Belville said: Why would someone steal a (worthless-to-anyone-else) log book? Ransom? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 25, 2016 Report Share Posted November 25, 2016 On November 23, 2016 at 8:40 PM, N803RM said: I have my log books in a large brief case and stored in my safe. I am overflowing with stored info, 3 airframe log books, the current engine books (2), and my new prop book. What do I need to keep, beside the log books, STC's, AD note searches, many copies, old weight and balance records, Annual Invoices and work order notes. All of the supplemental stuff with the STC's. My plane is 47 years old and ageing. Ron From my experience when importing planes from the U.S. most log books are a mess, overflowing with useless stuff. I would suggest you go through your logs and clear out old tags for things which are no longer installed, securing tags for things which are. Organize your 337's and STC's in matched sets, many times they are scattered everywhere, some in logs, some in the PoH etc. keep them all in binder in plastic sleeves organized by date. You can keep old tags, invoices etc. in a file if you want. I like to keep my logs neat and tidy, as though the plane were for sale and a buyer is coming to review them. Clarence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mccdeuce Posted November 25, 2016 Report Share Posted November 25, 2016 For those that digitize logs do you diy or have a service do it? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midlifeflyer Posted November 25, 2016 Report Share Posted November 25, 2016 10 hours ago, Bob_Belville said: Why would someone steal a (worthless-to-anyone-else) log book? There could be a number of reasons, depending what the thief was looking for. Maybe they didn't find any money. Maybe the books "looked" important. One of my favorite (true) stories is about a a Public Defender who was asked to represent a defendant accused of a series of house breaks. His response was, "no, I have a conflict. The sonofabitch is wearing my sweater." We're pretty sure the thief wasn't looking for nice sweaters. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yetti Posted November 25, 2016 Report Share Posted November 25, 2016 buy a bigger safe? Yellow tags really don't mean anything to the FAA.http://www.aviationpros.com/article/12008258/faa-feedback-the-yellow-tag Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bennett Posted November 25, 2016 Report Share Posted November 25, 2016 I SORT of agree. A safe is a great thing, BUT, as i discovered when my father died and had loads of his important stuff in a safe. DAMN WELL KNOW HOW TO OPEN IT. . Boy that was fun, i think it took three days and lots of iterations. . I keep a fire resistant safe in my hangar with the log books and important papers. I am not worried about theft, so I keep it closed, but unlocked. This is a relatively old safe with a key lock mechanism, and the key is in the lock "just in case" I forget and accidentally lock it. Spare keys are on the hangar desk with labels. Not a perfect solution, as fire resistant is not fireproof. I keep thinking I should bring all my log books, 337 forms, STCs to a good copying firm (like those used in the legal profession), and have them put the data on several different media formats - CDs, thumb drives, and a spare external hard drive. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRM Posted November 25, 2016 Report Share Posted November 25, 2016 On 11/23/2016 at 8:10 PM, Raptor05121 said: FYI- A cloud is not a cloud, its simply someone else's computer. Actually, it's a drive somewhere. It is also like a (real) cloud, here one moment, gone the next. You don't want a breakdown to rain on your maintenance parade. The good strategy is a layered approach. I 'photo scan' each new logbook page (airframe, engine, prop and even 'me'), so that way no one can say that I fabricated data. The hardcopies are in the fire safe (rated to three hours in a fire, should give the local firehouse enough time to douse the blaze). The digital are all over (laptop, desktop, work, home, I even think I have my pilot log on my iPad) including the cloud. I have data from my MVP-50 for the last five years of flying. Lastly, I have an Excel spreadsheet where I track everything... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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