NAFA member Jason Zilberbrand, President & CTO of VREF Aircraft Value Reference & Appraisal Services, discusses annual airplane inspections.
Is your aircraft due for its annual inspection? What do you actually know about this critical part of airplane ownership?
Annual inspections keep your aircraft in safe, airworthy condition. You can address any issues before they cause an accident.
Your inspection records are important when you sell your plane too. Good record-keeping and a history of making any necessary repairs can increase the resale value of your aircraft.
Find out more about required aircraft inspections. You'll be able to make more informed decisions about the maintenance of your aircraft.
Types of Required Aircraft Inspections
Federal regulations require several types of aircraft inspections depending on how the airplane is used. The three main types are:
- Annual inspections
- 100-hour inspections
- Progressive inspections
Annual inspections apply to most aircraft. Any aircraft that carries passengers for hire needs 100-hour inspections as well.
Progressive inspections are only available for certain applicants. High-usage fleets like flight schools often use progressive inspections to minimize downtime. Checks of aircraft components happen at fixed intervals.
For example, if your plane would normally need a 100-hour inspection, you could do an inspection every 25 hours that would cover part of what the 100-hour inspection includes. After four such inspections, the 100-hour inspection would be considered complete.
In addition to these three types of inspections, a plane must pass a preflight inspection before it can fly. Every pilot must make a preflight inspection before each flight.
Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations defines the inspection standards. People often refer to these regulations as the FARs.
This article was originally published by VREF Aircraft Value Reference & Appraisal Services on April 13, 2021.