Backcountry Pilot

[Spinner offline]

How much is a lost maintenance logbook worth? I've heard $10K+. The 1969 Maule will surely take a hit at resale, but how much?

[Zzz]

Ok, over an hour and no reply...I'll shoot...with a fairly ambiguous post.

I'd say incomplete logs are not going to devalue the aircraft that much unless it's the most recent ones that have been lost. If there's only one book and it contained all the maintenance entries, yeah it's going to take a hit. But is there real intrinsic value to complete logbooks, or is it just a perceived thing that carries more weight in a sale than it should?

Here's a thread from the 170 site on this topic.

I know a guy who rebuilt a 180 from a mere husk of an aircraft, and had zero logbooks. His IA assembled logbooks that included the refurbishment procedures, what was done, etc. I'm not sure what they did about the TTAF though. One can never really know what the airframe has been though. If someone rebuilds an aircraft from a project like that, can you assume its airworthiness is greater or less than one that has complete logs but has been sitting on the ramp for years and been flown seldom?

I think as the seller you are going to get what someone is willing to pay. If logbooks are important to them, you may have to concede some value, because many people heavily consider the investment potential of an aircraft, or at least what they can resell it for. It can also seem like a shady way to possibly conceal something about the aircraft, if the logbooks are "conveniently" lost. Perhaps a really nice aircraft that is in good condition, and is allowed to be thoroughly annualed as a pre-buy...the lost logbooks aren't the biggest deal. I don't think they should really be considered pedigrees, just maintenance records. That's my $.01.

Read the TIC170 thread, there are some interesting opinions.

My logs seem very complete...to my knowledge. There's no way i could know if something is missing even if it was. I did enjoy reading them and kind of absorbing some of the history of the aircraft and its adventures in the last 54 years. I even connected with one of the former Canadian owners, who is now a member on this site.

[Motorcitymaule offline]

i haven't gone to that thread yet and i do agree with zane 1seventyz but if i was looking at an old airplane and it had no maintance records i wouldn't really even consider it. But i don't no shit (look, i even started a sentence with the word but) i just want to fly around in the safest machine possible, and with no records at all that does not make me feel safe.

[Capt. Kirk offline]

I agree with Zane. If I'm looking at buying a 37 year old airplane and the log book for the first 7 years is gone then so what? If all the log books are gone then that's a different story.

As some of you already know, I purchased my plane from my father. When he lived in Dillingham AK he had a mechanic do annuals and maintenance religiously. This mechanic made a habit of keeping all his clients' log books neatly filed on his book shelf. One day, to everyones surprise, the law came looking for him and he disappeared with everyone's log books. My father filed a law suit against him and won however the mechanic was never located. So my plane has a significant block of time missing in the log books. Fast forwarding to today, my plane just got out of a complete ground up restoration...every last nut, bolt, pulley, cable, hose, wire...etc. I'd like to think that I could sell my plane right now for the same price regardless of that block of time missing from the logs (The logs I have are complete for the last 15 years or so). I'm really not worried about what it's worth though since I'm not planning on selling it and I intend to hand it down to one of my kids should they foster an interest in flying.

[7853H offline]

I just cannot believe that people place so much emphases on paper and log books are just that. Books are often doctored. I saw many times the data plate was the only original part but the logs told a much different story. The truth about a airplane is in the inspections before you buy not the papers.

[Redbaron180 offline]

Many lenders won't lend on an aircraft that doesn't have complete logbooks.........

[Spinner offline]

Well, there's no doubt logbooks hold SOME value even though they could be wrong. I called a friend who sells aircraft for a living and he said 20% without hesitating.

True, we fly the plane not the logbooks but they do act as a third party verification of maintenance done.