Page 23 - October 23

KING AIR SHOP
1000 KING AIR RD; KING AIR TOWN, 00000
LOG ENTRY— L/H ENGINE—DATE: 0-0-2020
A/C Model: King Air E90 A/C Reg: N000XX
A/C S/N: LW-XX ACTT: 11,263.7
Hobbs: 1263.4 A/C Cyc: 11,281
Eng CSO: 2269
Eng Make: Pratt+Whitney Eng Model: PT6A-28 Eng S/N: PCE-00000
Eng TTSN: 6235.8
Eng TSO: 2099.8 Eng TSHSI: 00.0 Eng Cyc: 6,450
1. C/W Phase Inspections I, II, III and IV per Beechcraft M.M.
2. C/W 1000-hr oil filter replace.
3. Installed new igniters, inbd and outbd positions.
4. C/W Hot Section Inspection; components repaired and reinstalled by Dallas Airmotive (RPR 0X0X0). 5. Installed O/H bus bar p/n 3027628, s/n=HR11xxx.
6. Installed O/H temp harness p/n 3117923-01, s/n=NR18xxx. 7. C/W compressor turbine wash.
I certify this engine has been inspected IAW Phase Inspections I, II, III and IV per Beechcraft M.M. and was found to be in airworthy condition with respect to the work performed.
MR. MECHANIC, A&P/AI 00000000
Figure 1: An Engine Log entry example containing the airframe information that should be included.
Time – an expensive omission. A cross reference to ACTT could have brought the problem to light before the engine was removed and torn apart for no reason.
The ACTT belongs on every log entry, whether airframe, engine or propeller. That should be your main takeaway from this. Figure 1 (left) is an example of an engine log entry showing the full array of airframe data that should be included.
Format
In addition to keeping my log entries concise, I always composed them in a numbered list format. The most important maintenance items like Airworthiness Directives (AD)s, 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 verifying compliance.
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 I’ve had many conversations with FAA and NTSB personnel and they all prefer 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 sees the books and can’t compute the ACTT.
Each time a new shop sees your King Air they need to research what’s been done and what needs done. If you’ve been going to the same shop for a decade, you should still bring your books (unless the shop keeps a maintenance summary for each customer – many shops do this).
Great care and detail is taken with the log entries at installation and removal. All the airframe information (registration, serial number, in addition to ACTT) is found on engine entries at installation.
The problem comes after installa- tion. Somebody completes an engine log entry and only includes Engine TSO (Time Since Overhaul) and then everyone afterward does the same. I’ve seen this go on for 15 years in the logbooks. Then I come along, trying to calculate the time left on the starter generator, for example, and I’m stymied.
Engine Book or
Airframe Book?
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 many mechanics and shops don’t understand this. They assume if it’s attached to the engine, then it belongs in the engine book. This is an area of great confusion.
In truth, only the items that came with the engine in the crate
are included in engine log entries. All other engine accessories are airframe items. But I don’t think this confusion will clear up any time soon, so I’ve learned to bop back and forth between the engine and airframe books to get the information I need.
In my example of finding the time remaining on a starter generator, there was no trace of it in the airframe book, but I found an entry for the starter generator in the engine book with Engine TSO only. This was no help as the engine wasn’t original to the airframe. I had to go back in time to the log entry when that engine was installed on that airframe to calculate the hours 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 performed 800 hours earlier than necessary because of a simple mistake in the logbooks. The engines were mismatched. 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
OCTOBER 2023
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 21