Question: I acquired my private pilot certificate in my own airplane a few years back. I sold the airplane, so now I need to rent in order to stay current. My friends who rent on a regular basis are warning me to check the maintenance books of the aircraft before I fly them. I have never rented an airplane before. What should I be looking for?
Answer: You should check the maintenance logbooks to make sure the aircraft is legal to fly. Start with the required inspections. They can be found under FAR 91.409, 91.411, 91.413, and 91.207. Many pilots learn the acronym A AV1ATE to recall the required inspections—with the “1” replacing the “I”:
Airworthiness Directives
Airworthiness directives (ADs) are the items that are aircraft make and model specific—for example, the seat rail AD for certain Cessna aircraft—and must be done at specific time intervals. These come from the FAA, and often aircraft owners dedicate a logbook to ADs only. Other times compliance with the ADs can be found in the logbook entries for other required inspections. Read those entries carefully.
