How to Keep a Post-Flight Discrepancy Log

Send us questions by commenting below or emailing John & Jeff at: [email protected] to Keep a Post-Flight Discrepancy LogMost engine problems don't show up overnight — they trend. Keeping a simple post-flight discrepancy log is how you catch them before they ground you, or worse.John and Jeff walk through the habit they wish every owner and pilot would adopt: at the end of every flight, write down what you noticed. A new noise, a vibration, a temperature that ran a little higher than normal — or nothing at all. Even "none noted" with the date and your initials is worth writing, because it gives the next pilot and your mechanic a baseline to compare against. The guys explain why this matters most on aircraft with multiple pilots, where nobody wants to be the one to "make it a thing," and how that silence lets small issues turn into expensive ones. Jeff shares a real example: a young pilot who heard a popping sound out of the left engine for about two months and brushed it off — until they pulled the cowling and found an exhaust stack hanging an inch and a half loose. Hot exhaust gases that close to a wiring harness can melt insulation and kill power to the engine, and a stack that fully breaks loose becomes a hazard on the ground. The fix, caught early, would have taken minutes. By the time it was found, it was a near miss. The episode is about building the awareness and the paper trail that catches problems while they're still cheap.In this episode, we cover:- Why a written post-flight squawk log beats relying on memory- What to write when nothing went wrong (and why "none noted" matters)- How trending small symptoms reveals real engine problems- The communication gap on multi-pilot aircraft, and how to close it- A real-world case: a popping sound that was a hanging exhaust stack- What can go wrong when an exhaust stack hangs near a wiring harness- Why looping in your mechanic — or another mechanic — pays off- How to give your A&P the history they need to actually diagnose an issueIf you fly behind a piston engine, this is one of the cheapest habits you can build to keep your airplane airworthy and yourself safe.TIMECODES00:00 The post-flight habit nobody wants to do00:27 Why "I think I felt this 3 months ago" is too late01:18 What to write down — even when nothing happened02:08 The multi-pilot communication problem03:23 The popping sound that was a hanging exhaust stack05:16 What a loose exhaust stack can actually do to your engine06:00 Call your mechanic — or another mechanicGet in touch!Web - SignatureEngines.comEmail - [email protected] - youtube.com/@SignatureEnginesInc