Many aviation operators in their daily lives will cry out in frustration "there has to be a better way!", but not all of them will take it upon their shoulders to do something about it.
Paul Strike and Carl Painter did.
Frustrated with the reams of paper needed to keep aircraft maintenance records, the two joined forces to invent the better way they both sought, and came up with BreezyLog.
BreezyLog is a real-time, interactive, aircraft records system designed to be used on computers and tablets, supplemented with a web-based mobile app for entering flight data. It records such data as flight times, fuel and oil used, Airworthiness Directives, component history and engine changes.
"What we've developed is the result of collaboration between an aviation professional and a developer to address the challenges in managing aircraft records in what you might call an 'analogue environment'," said Strike, an industry veteran with over 30 years aviation experience.
"My initial conversations with Carl were borne out of frustration, I guess, and a bit of a quest to find a better solution. Given that I'm an aircraft owner, Commercial Pilot/Operator and LAME, I'm sitting on all sides of the fence, so I see the shortfalls in the current system from all perspectives.
"Carl's experience as a developer, made him a pretty sensible first port-of-call because we had worked together on a couple of projects before and I knew the best way to solve the issues I was experiencing, was to use the embedded efficiencies that exist in digital solutions to rationalise and simplify what I saw as an incredibility complex and time consuming manual process."
Strike and Painter identified four "must-haves" when scoping out the project. BreezyLog needed to:
- contribute to the safety of an aircraft, its crew, passengers and the general public
- provide proof of compliance with Civil Aviation Regulations
- enhance the value of an aircraft by producing accurate and easy to read records
- be easy for any aircraft owner to manage their logbook, track and forecast schedules and ADs.
What was initially thought to be a one-year project became a three-year epic full of long hours, dead-ends and a few threats to give up completely. They persisted, and the product now stands to make the lives of small aircraft operators much easier.
According to Painter, Version 1.0 of BreezyLog "offers a comprehensive aircraft record keeping, maintenance forecasting/tracking and component log system and flight data entry program, that meets the requirements of Civil Aviation Regulation (CAR) 50A and 50B, as an acceptable alternative for aircraft records."
At the time of writing, the two are in the process of getting CASA approval, and will then look at further expansion of the system with more features for aircraft owners and LAMEs.
BreezyLog works on a subscription basis currently set at $22 per aircraft per month, but with a set-up fee ranging from $499 to POA, depending on the aircraft.
More information is available on the BreezyLog website.