This document provides tips for flight training providers to maximize aircraft uptime and minimize maintenance expenses. It recommends scheduling routine maintenance in advance rather than waiting until required hours are met. Other tips include using separate hobbs meters for aircraft components like heaters, performing maintenance during down periods, standardizing aircraft fleets, and building a culture where instructors and customers report any issues promptly. The goal is to reduce maintenance costs and downtime to maximize revenue generation from aircraft assets.

1. Aircraft Maintenance Tips
and Best Practices for
Flight Training Providers
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Things You Can Do to Maximize “Up
Time” for your Aircraft and Minimize
Maintenance Expenses

2. Not Flying = Not Making Money
• It’s simple, but if the aircraft isn’t generating
revenue, its costing you;
• Maximize in service time whenever possible;
• Minimized maintenance down time.
This generates more revenue generation time
from the aircraft resources you maintain.
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3. Maintenance Based
on Hobbs or Tach?
• Tach runs slower; maintenance
should be done on TACH,
billing on HOBBS
• Hobbs should be connected
to battery power
• Tach should be associated
with engine (other?)
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4. Maintenance Tach Tips
• Tach can be based on in flight
time; eg, off the ground;
• Tach can be associated with
wheels up, doesn’t kill all
that extra taxi time.
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5. The Heater Inspection on “Twins”
• Set up to us separate “Heater Hobbs”;
• Should activate when heater is actually used;
• Some just inspect every 100 hour inspection;
• Some (warm climate aircraft) disable to avoid
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6. Maintenance During Down Days /
Times / Vacation Times
• Overnight Maintenance
• Bad Weather Day Maintenance
• Holiday Maintenance during shutdowns
• Be the boss
of when your
maintenance staff
works; its business.
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7. Schedule Maintenance
• Don’t let an aircraft go down for maintenance
in busy days because you were “waiting for it
to hit the 100-hour inspection”;
• Have common wear items you will need on
hand or get them for JIT maintenance
provision ready;
• Routine maintenance should never be a
surprise.
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8. Tires
• New?
• Retread?
• Big Name Brand?
• Rotate the Tires?
Watch your aircraft; even wear on tires is a big
concern with student landings and can quickly
limit the life of the tires on your aircraft.
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9. Fleet Standardization = Reduced Cost
of Maintenance
• Parts stock needed to keep on hand is
minimized;
• Maintenance staff skills are maximized;
• More effective for training for students also.
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10. Inspections Planning
• 100 hour inspection is almost always the same
as an annual, if your mechanic is an IA have it
signed off as an annual inspection;
• Plan these ahead; early if it maximizes in
service time is OK (nights, bad weather days,
etc.)
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11. Preventative Maintenance Allowances
* 14 CFR Appendix A to Part 43 - Major Alterations,
Major Repairs, and Preventive Maintenance
• Have someone who can do oil changes,
change nav light bulbs, etc.
• This is especially helpful for operation that
doesn’t have maintenance of its own or even
on their airport;
• Utilize the FAA “preventative maintenance”
things a pilot/owner/operator is allowed to do
for a lower cost staff member and to avoid
down time.
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12. Build a Culture of Reporting any
Maintenance Discrepancies
• Broken things get worse, make maintenance
take longer or break more things later;
• Build a culture in instructors and customers
that reporting maintenance discrepancies is
critical;
• Letting broken things go can become a MAJOR
liability issue if it results in
accident/incident/injuries.
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