![Does it matter if maintenance information is written into the logbook in cursive? [Credit: Suzy Omegna]](https://flyingmag1.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/crusive-logbooks.jpg?width=2048&height=1536)
Question: Are there rules regarding how entries need to be put into aircraft maintenance logbooks? I just purchased an airplane, and going back through the logbooks, I see some entries are printed while others are written in cursive, and for the last few years, the A&Ps used preprinted stickers instead of writing in the logbooks. Because cursive isn’t being taught anymore (in some states), does that mean my logbooks will become illegal as they are illegible? It looks like a foreign language to me.
Answer: This is a multipronged question. Per 14 CFR Part 65, aviation mechanics must demonstrate English proficiency and be able to “read, write, speak, and comprehend the English language” to earn an FAA certificate.
“All written text in an aircraft log must be legible and in the English language,” an FAA spokesperson said. “Legible cursive is acceptable.”
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Advisory Circular (AC) 43-9C on 91.417(a) states: “Maintenance records may be kept in any format that provides record continuity, includes required contents, lends itself to the addition of new entries, provides for signature entry, and is intelligible.”
Most logbooks that go back decades will have a hodgepodge of printed and cursive handwriting, along with the computer-printed sticky labels that take up most of the page in the paper logbook.
The important thing, according to the A&P/IAs asked this question, is that the endorsements are properly worded per the AC, and the mechanic’s certificate number is legible and correct.
If you or your mechanic is having difficulty reading the cursive writing, there’s probably an artificial-intelligence program to translate. If that doesn’t work, find someone over the age of 40 who remembers writing “the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog” in cursive again and again and again to show mastery of the script.
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