DID YOU KNOW lost logbook information isn't covered by insurance?

Have you ever wondered if your logbooks are covered under your insurance policy? Well, the answer is not really. Although the physical logbook may be covered, there is no coverage for the document reconstruction. This means once the information is lost, it?s up to you to recreate it. To make the aircraft airworthy, the aircraft and engine logbooks must show the required inspections and AD compliance. We recommend keeping a backup electronic record by taking pictures or scanning the pages of the logbook. Not only will this backup keep you flying, it will maintain the value of the aircraft by having complete logs. Lost logbooks can be difficult and time consuming to recreate. If you?ve lost or misplaced a logbook, the last shop where you received an annual inspection will be your first stop. Many shops have switched to electronic recordkeeping as evidenced by printed stickers in your logbook as opposed to handwritten or ink stamped notations. As long as the shop has a record of your completed annual (electronic or otherwise) at least you can get back in the air while you attempt to recreate the rest.

Happy flying!

logbooks

At each annual, I photo each page in each logbook. I also include my pilot logbook. Next year I'm thinking to just do a video and pause a couple seconds on each page. Might be a little less headache than turning and photoing each page.

Side note..... Walk through your home and video everything and each closets contents. Few years back I came home from work one morning and everything in my house was gone. I did my best to remember everything but it's nearly impossible. At least every couple years, it's a few minutes well spent! Hopefully you'll never need to rely on that video.

I had photocopies of all my aviation-related documents and logbooks in a file cabinet in my home. The logbooks for airframe and engine maintenance were kept in the detached hangar, except when I brought them up to the house to update them at my desk and make current backups. Guess where all that stuff was when my house was totally destroyed by fire 3 years ago. Not in the hangar.

I found out the hard way that intangible "lost resale value" from destroyed engine and airframe logs is not covered by homeowners or aircraft insurance. I'm going to find out one day just how large that loss was, as I will be selling my 6A next year to finish the 10. At least that's the plan.

So sorry Bill! Important point you've made. Copy everything but keep it in a separate location.