Aircraft Maintenance, Inspections, and ARROW Records
Summary
Maintenance and airworthiness records for each aircraft live inside the aircraft detail overlay — three tabs cover everything: Maintenance (inspections and Airworthiness Directives), Compliance (ARROW documents), and Meters (Hobbs and Tach reading log). This tutorial covers all three.
Which inspection cards appear is controlled by the aircraft's equipment configuration flags. See Managing Organization Aircraft for how to set those flags.
Who this is for
Admins and Chief Instructors can add, replace, and review all maintenance and compliance records. Line instructors and students cannot access aircraft maintenance records.
Before you begin
Open the aircraft detail overlay by clicking Aircraft in the sidebar, then clicking a tail number link. Confirm the aircraft's equipment configuration flags are set correctly — they control which inspection and ARROW cards appear.
If the 100-Hour inspection card shows Meter reading needed, add a current Hobbs or Tach reading in the Meters tab before filing the inspection record. The 100-Hour form pre-fills from the current meter value.
Maintenance tab — Inspections
The Inspections section of the Maintenance tab shows one card per required inspection type. A Missing chip on a card means no record has been filed for that type yet.
Adding a record
Click Add Record on any inspection card. If a record is already on file, the button reads Replace Record and the form shows a blue note: "This record is already on file. Saving will replace it." The save button changes to Replace to confirm. There is no way to recover the old record after replacing — if you need a paper trail, attach documents or use the Notes field before saving.
All standard inspection types share the same fields: Completed Date (required), Expiration Date (required, auto-calculated but editable), Attach Documents (optional — JPG, PNG, PDF, Word, or text, up to 25 MB each), and Notes (optional). There is no inspector name or certificate number field.
ELT Inspection and ELT Battery are two separate record types — the 12-month inspection of the ELT unit itself and the 24-month battery replacement — each filed independently. Auto-calculated expiration intervals:
| Inspection type | Interval (from completed date) | CFR reference |
|---|---|---|
| Annual | Last day of 12th month | 14 CFR 91.409 |
| ELT Inspection | Last day of 12th month | 14 CFR 91.207(d) |
| ELT Battery | Last day of 24th month | 14 CFR 91.207(c) |
| Transponder | Last day of 24th month | 14 CFR 91.413 |
| Pitot-Static / Altimeter | Last day of 24th month | 14 CFR 91.411 |
100-Hour inspection
The 100-Hour inspection is meter-driven, not calendar-driven — there is no Expiration Date field. The card only appears when Instruction for hire is enabled in the aircraft's configuration. Additional fields beyond the standard set:
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Meter * | Hobbs or Tach |
| Engine * | Engine 1 or Engine 2 — shown only for Tach on multi-engine aircraft |
| Meter at Inspection * | The meter reading when the inspection was performed; pre-filled from the current value in the Meters tab |
| Meter Due At * | Pre-filled as Meter at Inspection + 100 hours; must be greater than Meter at Inspection |
- X.X hours until due — hours remaining before the 100-hour limit
- X.X hours into grace period — within the 10-hour FAA grace window (14 CFR 91.409(b))
- X.X hours overdue — more than 10 hours past the limit
- Meter reading needed — no current reading on file for the selected meter type; go to the Meters tab first
Airworthiness Directives
The Airworthiness Directives section in the Maintenance tab lists all ADs on file for this aircraft. Unlike inspections, ADs are multi-record — each Add Directive creates a new entry rather than replacing an existing one, so you can maintain a full compliance history.
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| AD Reference * | The FAA identifier (e.g., AD 11-10-09) |
| Title (optional) | Short description of the AD |
| Completed Date * | Date the AD was complied with |
| Expiration Date (optional) | Enter for recurring ADs; leave blank for one-time compliance |
| Attach Documents (Optional) | |
| Notes (optional) |
Compliance tab — ARROW documents
The Compliance tab holds the five ARROW airworthiness documents — one card per type. The same Add Record / Replace Record flow used for inspections applies here. The Radio Station License card appears only when Operates internationally is enabled in the aircraft's configuration; if the card is missing, open Edit Aircraft and enable that flag. All five document types accept attached files and a notes field in addition to the date fields below.
| Document | Date field label | Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| Airworthiness Certificate | Issued Date * | None — does not expire |
| Registration | Issued Date * | Last day of 84th month (7-year FAA cycle, 14 CFR 91.203(a)(2)) |
| Operating Limitations / POH | Document Date * | None — use the document's printed revision or effective date |
| Weight & Balance | Document Date * | None |
| Radio Station License | Issued Date * | Last day of 120th month (10-year cycle, 47 CFR 87.18) |
Meters tab — Reading log
Meter readings drive the 100-Hour countdown and provide an audit log of Hobbs and Tach values. Readings recorded automatically through dispatch check-outs and check-ins appear as read-only entries — they cannot be edited or deleted manually.
To add a manual reading, click Add Reading and choose a meter from the dropdown. Single-engine aircraft show Hobbs and Tach. Multi-engine aircraft show Hobbs, Tach — Engine 1, and Tach — Engine 2 (Hobbs always represents the airframe, never per-engine).
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Meter Type * | Hobbs or Tach |
| Engine * | Engine 1 or Engine 2 — shown only for Tach on multi-engine aircraft |
| Reason * | Admin or Maintenance |
| Value * | Decimal hours, displayed to one decimal place (e.g., 1234.5) |
| Date * | |
| Time * | 12-hour AM/PM format |
| Notes (optional) |
Status chip reference
Both the Maintenance and Compliance tabs use the same status chips:
| Chip | Color | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Active | Green | Current; more than 90 days until expiration |
| Expiring | Yellow | 31–90 days until expiration |
| Critical | Yellow | 0–30 days until expiration |
| Expired | Red | Past expiration date |
| Missing | Yellow | Required type with no record on file |
| Grace period | Yellow | 100-Hour only: within 10 hours past the due meter value |
| Not required | Grey | Record exists for a type the aircraft's configuration no longer requires |
Common issues
Expected inspection card isn't showing. The aircraft's equipment flag for that type is off. Open Edit Aircraft and enable the relevant configuration flag — the card appears immediately after saving.
100-Hour card shows "Meter reading needed." No current reading is on file for the selected meter type. Add a manual reading in the Meters tab, then return to the 100-Hour card to file the inspection.
Meter Due At won't save. The value must be greater than Meter at Inspection. If the pre-filled current meter value looks stale, update it in the Meters tab first.
Radio Station License card is missing. The aircraft's Operates internationally flag is off. Enable it in Edit Aircraft.
Replaced the wrong record. The replace flow is irreversible — re-add the correct record using Add Record. If the previous record had an attachment, check the Documents tab; the file may still be present even though the inspection record itself is gone.