Bluetail is using the latest in digital scanning, optical character recognition, machine learning, and Amazon Web Services cloud-native applications to not only digitize and store your valuable aircraft logbooks but make them easily searchable, sharable and secure.
If you’ve been following our recent series, you’ve seen how updating avionics, interior, paint, and even enrolling in an engine maintenance program can add to your aircraft’s “value.”
But, while we’ve seemingly covered all of the obvious “value adds,” we’ve overlooked one of the most misunderstood: your aircraft’s logbooks. Really. There’s a lot more riding on those binders and booklets than the typical owner appreciates – until it’s too late.
As Stuart Illian, co-founder of Bluetail (a leader in the digitization of paper logs), explained, the typical owners lose sight of the fact the FAA, and most other recognized governing bodies for that matter, require current logbooks for all registered aircraft.
“They’re the only proof that all the aircraft’s various inspections, maintenance, repairs, and upgrades were done correctly. That’s how you establish its airworthiness,” he said. “If you lose the documentation, it’s an immediate and significant ding on the aircraft’s value (more on that later). And it can also render the aircraft unairworthy until those documents are replaced.”
“Of course, the information recorded on FAA 8130-3 tags is equally important. Lose any of them, and it’s a huge problem for the owner,” Illian added. “They may seem simple, but if you can’t prove the parts you installed are legitimate, then you have to go back and reinstall those parts again to maintain airworthiness.”
And if you think things like that don’t happen, well, they do. Roberto Guerrieri, Bluetail CEO and co-founder, shared a story of a Fortune 100 operator who recently had to write a check for over a half-million dollars to replace some 8130 tags that went missing after one of their A&Ps had been fired.
“We hear stories like this all the time,” he added. “Owners don’t understand that while you can insure the aircraft itself, you can’t buy any coverage for the information in your logbooks.”
Better Than Insurance
So, let’s say your logs go AWOL; what type of impact will that have on your aircraft’s market value? According to the experts, a good average is 20-percent of the retail resale price.
While you can’t buy “insurance” on those valuable documents, you can eliminate the risk by having the digitization wizards at Bluetail scan and store all of your paper logs and documents. Once all of your aircraft’s records are safely stored in Bluetail’s digital cloud, you never have to worry about where your important information is ever again.
When you need to check anything, sign onto Bluetail’s network, enter your information, and quicker than you can read this sentence, your aircraft’s entire maintenance history is at your fingertips.
And it’s not just bizjet operators who are finding peace of mind with Bluetail. Savvy pilot/owners are taking advantage of the many benefits that this innovative service offers. Phil Rosenbaum has owned his 1999 Pilatus PC-12 since it was factory new, and he appreciates the benefits of having all of his records digitized and secured.
“I’ve owned enough airplanes to know that the logbooks are a very significant part of its value. If they’re lost or damaged, you can replace them, but that can still lessen the perception as a whole in that aircraft’s history. Was that maintenance actually done?” he said. “With Bluetail, no one can ever contest the validity or accuracy of my records.”
“On top of that, the ability for my MRO to quickly and accurately search through over 20-years-worth of maintenance information is another benefit,” Rosenbaum added. “Not having to manually look through all those logs and files saves hours and hundreds of dollars when the airplane is in for maintenance.”
Going Mobile Without Going Anywhere
Another significant benefit is that the aircraft’s records can be easily and securely shared with anyone, anywhere, anytime. Ah, the beauty of our digital world.
“No matter where the aircraft goes for any inspection, repair or upgrade, all of its documents are easily accessed by anyone with the owner’s approval,” Guerrieri said.
“We recently signed a large aircraft management company for that very reason,” Illian added. “One of their Gulfstreams was up in Appleton for an unplanned maintenance event. Well, all of the aircraft’s paper logbooks were in Texas. They had to load boxes of books and binders into a Bonanza and fly them to Wisconsin before the shop could complete the work.”
“It wasn’t only inconvenient; it significantly increased the cost and time it took to get that airplane back in service,” he said. “Bluetail completed digitizing the records for their fleet, eliminating that problem for good.”
Bluetail’s Digital Alchemy
Okay, you’re thinking, “digitizing my aircraft’s records is a good idea. I’ll just skip over to the local office store and have them do it for me.” Oh, if it were only that easy. But it’s not. To provide the level of searchability and shareability they offer, Bluetail had to “reinvent” how aircraft logs are digitized.
Guerrieri and Illian both have extensive backgrounds in high-tech, so they had an immediate head start on what wasn’t available to operators before Bluetail’s introduction in 2019.
“When we started looking at the current offerings in this space, it quickly became evident that they were tied to old technologies, and we could do something much better,” Illian said. “They didn’t have access to any of the cloud-based tools we have today. Those allow us to offer many more services including search, auto-organization, character/signature recognition, machine learning – the kinds of capabilities that no one else in the segment has taken advantage of.”
“You can scan a bunch of pages, but if you can’t organize them or access the data individually, then you basically have nothing more than an electronic filing cabinet,” Illian continued. “It’s not much use.”
No matter your reason for having your logs digitized, the first step is to get them scanned. And that’s harder than you may think.
“The first thing we did was put our scanning network in place. We have a scanning partner who understands how the logbooks and documents need to be handled,” Illian said. “We provided their technicians with training on how to handle each situation. It’s a pain in the butt to do it correctly, but you have to.”
Of course, like every other part of Bluetail, the partners concentrated their efforts on finding a scanning service provider located close to where the fledgling company’s customers are.
“We have facilities located near all of the major concentrations of business aircraft so the operator can drive their records over there, or we can do it via a bonded courier,” Illian explained. “But, that doesn’t cover every owner, so we have our own team of A&Ps who travel to the operator’s facility to handle the scanning. We also have clients who have already scanned all of their documents. That works great also.”
And while it’s almost inconceivable that digital records can be lost during shipping, Illian stressed that Bluetail is the only logbook digitization services provider that conforms to FAA Advisory Circular AC120-78A on digital record keeping.
“Bluetail started with basically one solution, but we’ve grown to add capabilities like machine learning, optical character recognition (OCR), and other automation capabilities,” he continued. “Now an owner can literally take a photo of a document with their iPhone, upload it to us, and then search that document by title, work scope, signature, or whatever.”
“People have no idea of what it takes to make this happen. All they know is they push a button, and they can complete detailed records searches in seconds instead of spending hours or days flipping through paper logs,” Guerrieri added. “And all of that data is as secure as it would be locked inside of any bank’s vault.”
Thar’ Be Pirates Out There
Security is something that its customers expect Bluetail to take very seriously. To that end, you can sleep soundly knowing that Bluetail’s security protocols don’t slack off once the data is in the cloud. If anything, it gets tighter.
“We are extremely proud that a growing number of Fortune 100 corporate flight departments are choosing Bluetail to handle the digital aircraft records management of their fleet’s maintenance and operational records,” stated Bluetail VP of Application and Delivery, Greg Baynham. “The information in these records is sensitive and extremely valuable.”
“From the very beginning, we have taken great pride in the fact that all of Bluetail’s digital records are always protected by the most advanced cybersecurity encryption protocols,” he added. “Today, our application uses industry-leading 256 AES security for all data while in transit and at rest.”
Baynham also explained that because Bluetail is hosted by AWS (Amazon Web Service), arguably the most secure protocol in the commercial world, their protocols follow all the leading global cybersecurity guidelines, including PCI-DSS, HIPPA/HITECH, FedRAMP, GDPR, FIPS 140-2, and NIST 800-171.
“We know that our customers put a lot of faith in our ability to keep their information secure,” he added. “As long as people are out there trying to hijack data, we will explore every resource to keep it safe.”
Putting a Price on Peace of Mind
Just how much does it cost to have your aircraft’s records digitally scanned and secured by Bluetail? There is no “set price.” It all depends on the age of the aircraft. A 20-year-old Gulfstream will have file boxes with a lot more pages than a two-year-old model. And an airplane that’s had a lot of modifications will have more still.
The only way to determine what the package will cost is to contact Bluetail and explain your particular situation. What have you got to lose?
