Give them some real incentive to find them no matter how much time they have to spend doing it. Since everybody knows the resale value of a plane is greatly diminished without logs, warn them of the impending lawsuit You intend to file if they don't find them.
It also might have ended up in someone elses airplane. The shop needs to contact eveyone that had a plane in the shop at the time your work was performed and ask them to ckeck their logs.
If truly lost, your airplane just became worth 25% less and very difficult to sell. They have to be somewhere, don't give up until every cabinet, toolbox, airplane is searched. If still nothing....well the lawyers get to fight it out.
I found a guys logbooks stuffed under some old maintenance manuals in a old FBO building that we rented, man was he excited when I called him, they had been missing for over a year!
You know, I had a conversation with My A.I. just this week about much the same subject. I couldn't find them at my place and had to ask him if they were at the FBO. My logs are a pain to read (unless You've done it several times before) because after the original book from Piper was full, someone bought one of those logs that has seperate sections for engine, airframe, avionics, routine preventative, etc. and entries were made in the wrong part of the book. I was thinking it was time to "Reconstruct" the logs in an orderly (and organized) manner and put it all in a fire-proof safe. The "Re-organized" logs would be much easier for a prospective buyer to research should the time come and the originals will be available for verification purposes.
The only time the logbooks ever leave the safety of my home is during the annual inspection. The AI is the only person who needs to see and review them. Other than that, all the shops I use just provide stickies (either computer printed, or just hand written on an Avery label) and I slap them in myself.
First off, have you paid the guy for the work? If not, DO NOT pay the bill until he produces the log books. If he can not find the books, go to his shop and make a list of all tail numbers that was worked on during the time frame your work was done. With the list of N-numbers go to this site [registry.faa.gov] ,using the N-number get the registration on all those planes and contact the owners. DO NOT GIVE UP easly on these books!
Dean,
He hasn't been paid and will not until he produces the books. He's tap dancing around telling me he hasn't lost a log book in 25 years and that I should check all my flight bags....hey dumbass, I only have one and it was in the plane when you worked on it!! This will probably get ugly here real soon..
I would put that on the top ten reasons to kick someones A$$.
Up there close is my accountant. A "glitch" happened and he just filed my tax return...in May. I didnt find out until I inquired as to where my refund was.
They still give refunds??? Wow, I didn't know they were still doing that...The only year I got a refund I got audited and they took 95% of the refund back along with all their damn penalties & interest. The IRS is on the top of my list....
Of course turbokurt, I meant that, as a result of your misfortune (would cataclysm be a better word?) perhaps I should scan my own logs.
Not to be a Pollyanna, but my guess is that they will be found by another pilot and returned to you. They are worthless without the airplane, after all. It just might take some time for someone to notice they are holding on the wrong logs – like next year’s annual.
I think it’s safe to say, we all have our fingers crossed for you and are hoping for the best.
Good luck with the logs. I'm sure they will eventually show up. I have not scanned mine (yet) but I did make a photo copy of every log page and yellow tag and they are stored in a separate location than my originals.
Pilots tend to be more educated than the general population.
Are there still those out there that feel a tax refund is some kind of gift from the government? If you are receiving a refund every year it is time to change accountants or get one. It’s always better to owe a hundred bucks every year than to receive a $500-$1000 refund. It’s a refund because you are paying too much, and you’re not receiving any benefit for that loan to Uncle Sam.
Yeh, What GM said! Years ago when I got a refund and it didn't scare the hell out of me to know where every penny went or where potential pennies lie, I kept good books and always looked at a tax "refund" as a screw up that needed correcting. My Dad was looking at those books years after I quit all that and became somewhat indignant when he saw entries in the exact amount of my refund checks under a column I labeled as "Hookers", since that appeared to indicate I been spending my tax refunds on prostitutes. I had to laugh when I explained that was just my slightly warped view of the whole "Refund" thing because as I saw it, I was still paying to be screwed.
