Annual Inspection Season: A Pre-Annual Checklist for Aircraft Owners
Your annual is coming up. Here's exactly what to prepare, what documents to have ready, and what questions to ask your IA before the inspection begins.
Pre-Annual Checklist for Aircraft Owners
Every aircraft owner dreads the annual — not because of the inspection itself, but because of the surprises that come out of it. Most of those surprises can be avoided with a little prep.
Two weeks before
- Confirm the appointment and get an estimate of hours
- Pull your aircraft and engine logbooks together
- Gather any parts you've installed since the last annual (yellow tags, 8130-3s)
- Review your open AD list and confirm you have current compliance paperwork
The day of drop-off
- Fuel to tabs (or whatever your IA prefers)
- Clean the aircraft — it helps the inspector
- Write up any squawks you already know about
- Ask what hourly rate applies and what's billed flat
Questions to ask your IA
1. What ADs have been added to the list since my last annual?
2. Are there any service bulletins you recommend even though they aren't ADs?
3. What's the condition of my ELT battery and when does it need replacement?
4. Are any of my documents missing — equipment list, weight & balance, POH?
Preparing your records digitally
Upload your logbooks to myaircraft.us before the annual. The AI will flag any gaps — missing compliance entries, unsigned work, or ADs without documented compliance — before your mechanic does.