Page 17 - Volume 12 Number 2

engine log and only puts in Engine TSO (Time Since Overhaul), and then everyone afterward does the same. I’ve seen this go on for 15 years. Then I come along, trying to calculate the time left on the starter generator, for example, and I’m stymied.
Starter generators are considered an airframe item even though they are attached to the engine. Their 1,000- hour overhaul belongs in the airframe book, but this is an area of great confusion. Many mechanics and shops don’t understand this. They think if it’s attached to the engine, then it belongs in the engine book. So, in my research, I bop back and forth between the engine and airframe books. In this example, I found an entry for the starter generator in the engine book with Engine TSO only. The engine wasn’t original to the airframe. Ultimately, I had to go back to the log entry when that engine was installed on that airframe to set the record straight on the starter generator. If the engine logs referenced the ACTT, I would have had a much easier time.
I heard a horror story about a Hot Section Inspection (HSI) performed 800 hours earlier than necessary because of a simple mistake in the logbooks. The engines were mismatched, and this was the “younger” of the two, but somewhere along the line a figure got transposed. Again, the engine logs only showed TSO with no reference to Airframe Total Time – an expensive omission. A cross reference to ACTT could have brought the problem to light before the engine was torn apart for no reason. When it hits you in your wallet it gets your attention! The log entry example on the next page shows the full array of airframe data included on an engine log.
Format
In addition to keeping my log entries very concise, I’ve always composed them in a numbered list format. The most important maintenance items like ADs, major inspections, and required items come first; bulbs, o-rings and less consequential issues come last. It makes it so much easier to find what you’re looking for when doing research. Paragraph-style entries drive me nuts, and I’m clearly not alone. I see paragraph entries where someone before me used a highlighter to pick out the salient points, separating the wheat from the chaff.
Unfortunately, the FARs don’t dictate format, but in conversations with FAA and NTSB personnel, I found a strong preference for concise log entries formatted as a numbered list.
Bring Logbooks to Maintenance
When your King Air goes in for maintenance, bring the logbooks! Some of those Hobbs-only airframe entries are because the shop never saw the books and could not compute the ACTT.
Each time a new shop sees your King Air, they need to research what’s been done and what needs doing.
FEBRUARY 2018
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 15