How it works
An operations primer: how EAB Annual carries an aircraft's record through the year, from the paper logbooks you start with to the signed condition-inspection entry and everything in between.
01The aircraft record
One certifying entry per year. A continuous record between them.
The condition inspection required by your Operating Limitations is a single signed entry. EAB Annual is the working surface for everything around it - open squawks, AD and SB tracking, parts, photos, and the maintenance records you keep between inspections.
Part 43 App D scope
Between condition inspections
The continuous airworthiness record
Open squawks, AD and SB tracking with calendar and tach intervals projected from the last compliance, parts and photo evidence - and a maintenance record that aggregates every signed action with date, time in service, description, signature, and certificate number on each entry.
At the condition inspection
Six phases against Part 43 Appendix D
Open squawks and applicable AD and SB items carry into the inspection workflow. Sign-off is performed under your Repairman (Experimental Aircraft Builder) or A&P credentials and produces the airframe-log entry using the certification statement your Operating Limitations require.
02Logbook import
Reconstruct the maintenance record from existing logbooks.
Scan or photograph the airframe, engine, and propeller books. EAB Annual extracts each entry, normalizes the fields, and lays the result out for your review before any line enters the maintenance record.
Capture
PDF upload or in-app camera capture. Airframe, engine, and propeller books are kept as separate sources so each entry inherits the correct record type.
Read
OCR resolves print and handwriting. Column titles, year banners, and pre-printed Tach/Hobbs/Total-Time labels are stripped before parsing.
Structure
A second pass groups lines into discrete entries and pulls out the standard fields: date · TTIS · Tach & Hobbs · description · signature · certificate number.
Review & commit
Correct OCR text, redraw a crop, split or merge entries, drop noise. Committed lines write to the same maintenance record every other module reads from and appends to.
Source crop retained
Every committed entry keeps a pointer to the original page image. Open the entry to see the crop it was extracted from.
Quota-aware pipeline
If the OCR or extraction service exhausts its daily allocation mid-import, the pipeline checkpoints and resumes when capacity returns. Nothing enters the maintenance log until you review and commit it.
Past condition inspections preserved
Entries that carry the Appendix D certification language are classified as historical condition inspections, so the inspection due date anchors to actual prior compliance rather than the import date.
03The maintenance record
A single maintenance record, built from the work itself.
No parallel records. Every signed action performed in EAB Annual writes a compliant entry into the maintenance record. Four system-generated sources cover routine work; a manual entry handles anything outside the workflow.
Condition-inspection sign-off
Phase 6 writes the airframe-log entry: the Operating-Limitations certification statement, total time in service, Tach and Hobbs at sign-off, and the performing person's credential.
AD & SB compliance
Marking an item complied records the AD or SB number, method of compliance, Tach and Hobbs at compliance, and the next-due basis - calendar, hours, or both.
Squawk & discrepancy resolution
Resolving a squawk or inspection discrepancy writes a corrective-action entry. Revising the resolution later rewrites the same entry in place, kept in sync.
Oil & filter change (Phase 1)
Oil grade, quantity, filter part number, and filter-cut findings entered at Phase 1 become a discrete oil-change entry against the engine record when the inspection signs off.
Manual entry
For work outside the workflow - tires, brakes, avionics, paint, propeller. Captures date, time in service, Tach and Hobbs, description, performing person, and certificate number.
N713EG · Van's RV-9A · S/N 91-24 · Lycoming O-320
Every system-generated entry keeps a reference back to its source- open the inspection, the squawk, or the AD or SB compliance and the entry's underlying data is visible in context.
04The condition inspection
Part 43 Appendix D scope, free to navigate, gated to sign off.
Six phases, free navigation - work in any order. EAB Annual tracks what each phase brings in and what it captures, and holds sign-off until every gating item is closed, deferred, or marked N/A with a reason.
Weighted progress
The bar reflects gating items, not raw counts
AD and SB reviews and part installs weigh more than individual checklist items, so the progress indicator tracks what actually stands between you and a releasable sign-off.
CHECKLIST 100% · AD/SB 78% · DISCREPANCIES 60%
The gate at Phase 6
Sign-off is blocked until every gating item clears
The blocker list is explicit: an open safety or airworthiness discrepancy, an applicable AD or SB that has not been adjudicated, a missing Tach reading. Each blocker links back to the originating record. Cosmetic and deferred items are tracked but do not block.
Credentials
Recorded once, attached at sign-off
Your Repairman (Experimental Aircraft Builder) or A&P certificate - number and authority - lives on your profile. Phase 6 attaches it to the airframe-log entry with the certification statement.
05Recurring compliance
Calendar and tach intervals, projected from the last compliance.
Recurring ADs, manufacturer SBs, and repeating squawks track in a single schedule - by calendar months, by engine hours, or by both - so nothing slips between condition inspections.
Three compliance bases
A recurring item can run on a calendar interval, an engine-hour interval, or both. The app projects whichever arrives first and shows the controlling basis on the row.
Re-projection on new Tach
Engine-hour items only advance when a Tach reading is recorded. Phase 1 latches Tach and Hobbs at opening, and every recurring engine-hour item re-projects against that reading immediately.
Open safety items block sign-off
An open safety or airworthiness item prevents Phase 6 sign-off until it is corrected, or deferred at the inspector's discretion; every applicable AD and SB must be adjudicated before release.
Recorded at the point of observation
Captured on the ramp or in the hangar with category (airframe, engine, propeller, appliance), priority, and Tach/Hobbs at entry. The item persists until corrected or deferred; resolution writes the corrective-action entry.
Photo attachments at every level
Attach photos to a checklist item, squawk, AD/SB compliance, or part replacement. Captured from the phone camera and downsized automatically on upload. Albums group by inspection and source.
Single record, multi-device, scoped sharing
Browser, phone, or tablet sees the same record in real time. Issue a read-only share link to an inspecting A&P, prospective buyer, or DAR; expiry and revocation are explicit.