THE RADAR LIBRARY

Aircraft financing, maintenance, records, and ownership guides

57 guides and 9 calculators for aircraft buyers, owners, and lenders.

INTERACTIVE AIRCRAFT TOOLS

Run the numbers before you commit.

Explore all aircraft tools
01 Live tool Acquisition equity

Cash-to-close calculator

The cash this purchase requires, including the value gap 02 Live tool Debt structure

Aircraft loan calculator

Payment and balloon under one set of assumptions 03 Live tool Maintenance planning

Maintenance reserve calculator

Annual and hourly reserve requirement 04 Live tool Collateral value

Aircraft valuation model

Current, forward, and downside value scenarios 05 Live tool Acquisition capacity

Aircraft affordability planner

All-in annual cash demand, coverage, and runway 06 Live tool Lender submission

Aircraft loan-readiness builder

Readiness score, blockers, and packet plan 07 Live tool Records and value

Aircraft records-risk assessment

Risk tier, value sensitivity, and recovery actions 08 Live tool Ownership economics

Aircraft operating-cost calculator

Annual demand, effective hourly cost, and downside cases 09 Live tool Records readiness

Aircraft records-completeness scorecard

Review coverage, critical gaps, and next evidence priorities

BUYING AND BORROWING

Financing & acquisition

Structure the purchase: equity, loan terms, closing mechanics, and what a lender will ask for before funding.

13 guides
Buy side

Aircraft Acquisition Due Diligence Checklist

A working aircraft acquisition due diligence checklist: who owns each finding, what the purchase agreement must lock in, and when a buyer can still walk.

Open the checklist Value opinions

Aircraft Appraisal: Process, Cost, and Report Checklist

What an aircraft appraisal should contain, when a desktop report is enough, and how to catch a value conclusion built on the wrong serial number.

Open the checklist Cash to close

Aircraft Down Payment: How Much Equity Do You Need?

Why the aircraft down payment is set by lender-accepted value and LTV, not the sticker price, and how to budget the cash the loan will never cover.

Read the guide Shop-visit funding

Aircraft Engine Maintenance Reserves

Set engine maintenance reserves against the real liability: shop-visit scope, LLP cycles, escalation, and the balances you can actually claim.

Read the guide Borrower playbook

Aircraft Financing: Loans, Requirements, Rates, and Records

How aircraft financing actually gets approved: the five decisions inside every secured aircraft loan and the records package that speeds up underwriting.

Read the guide Loan pricing

Aircraft Loan Rates: What Determines Your Rate

Where aircraft loan rates come from: benchmark plus spread, what moves each pricing layer, and how to compare quotes without falling for the teaser rate.

Read the guide Underwriting prep

Aircraft Loan Requirements: Complete Checklist

Aircraft loan requirements in two files: the borrower credit package and the aircraft collateral package, with the documents lenders ask for in each.

Open the checklist Ownership economics

Aircraft Ownership Costs: The Complete Budget

A seven-layer model for aircraft ownership costs, from capital and crew to downtime and depreciation, and why a single hourly number misleads.

Read the guide Deal execution

Aircraft Purchase Closing Checklist

The aircraft purchase closing checklist that keeps funds, title, insurance, and delivery converging on one date, with a release sequence for closing day.

Open the checklist Debt strategy

Aircraft Refinancing: Process, Costs, and Records

When aircraft refinancing pays off and when it only restarts the clock: break-even math, balloon timing, and the records the new lender will re-check.

Read the guide Clear to close

Aircraft Title Search and Lien Due Diligence

Run an aircraft title search that goes past the FAA record: what state law can hide, and how to turn unreleased liens into closing conditions.

Read the guide Deal evidence

Aircraft Transaction Data Room: Records, Access, and Closing Control

How to structure an aircraft transaction data room by decision owner, control access by phase, and freeze the evidence a closing actually relied on.

Read the guide Market evidence

Aircraft Valuation: What Determines Market Value

Aircraft valuation from comparables to a defensible range: the serial-number bridge, maintenance adjustments, and the records that make a number hold up.

Read the guide

PROVE THE HISTORY

Records & diligence

Logbooks, pre-buy reviews, audits, and digitization. What a records package actually supports, and how to verify it.

17 guides
AI records workflow

AI for Aircraft Maintenance Records: Useful Workflows and Safe Controls

Where AI for aircraft maintenance records actually helps, where it fails, and the controls that keep confident-looking errors out of compliance decisions.

Read the guide Buyer diligence

Aircraft Damage History: Records Review Guide

Why no single database proves a clean aircraft damage history, and how to reconcile logbooks, Form 337 filings, and the airframe itself before you buy.

Read the guide Lease return

Aircraft Lease Return Records Checklist

A clause-driven aircraft lease return records checklist: build the matrix from the signed lease, prove LLP trace, and settle gaps before redelivery.

Open the checklist Paper to searchable

Aircraft Logbook Digitization Service and Checklist

What a real aircraft logbook digitization service delivers: chain of custody, page-complete scans, QC on the hardest pages, and access that opens to source.

Open the checklist Record entry field guide

Aircraft Logbook Entry Examples and Field Guide

Five aircraft logbook entry examples built on 14 CFR 43.9 and 43.11 field requirements, plus how to correct a signed entry without erasing history.

Read the guide Digital logbooks

Aircraft Logbook Software: Searchable Records With Source Proof

How to evaluate aircraft logbook software on the tests that matter: source-linked search, handwriting OCR review, and exports that survive a transaction.

Read the guide Acquisition diligence

Aircraft Pre-Buy Inspection Checklist

An aircraft pre-buy inspection checklist that ties every squawk to a contract right: scope to negotiate up front, finding classes, and a closing register.

Open the checklist Pre-buy diligence

Aircraft Pre-Buy Records Review: Complete Checklist

The aircraft pre-buy records review, step by step: reconcile times and AD status against source entries, trace LLPs, and classify every exception.

Open the checklist Buyer workbook

Aircraft Pre-Purchase Inspection Report Template

A five-sheet aircraft pre-purchase inspection report template: scope, findings register, records review, and closing exceptions, with a worked example.

Get the template Verified baseline

Aircraft Records Audit: Scope, Checklist, and Deliverables

An eight-stage aircraft records audit: prove identity, reconcile times, verify AD and LLP status, and log every exception with source evidence.

Open the checklist Vendor selection

Aircraft Records Management Services: Scope, Deliverables, and Selection

Aircraft records management services range from scanning to full reconciliation. How to scope the statement of work, run a pilot, and score providers.

Read the guide Evidence layer

Aircraft Records Management Software

What separates aircraft records management software from a folder of PDFs: linked component history, exception tracking, and facts that open to source.

Read the guide Records intelligence

Aircraft Records OCR: From Scanned Pages to Reviewable Evidence

Aircraft records OCR explained: why handwriting and serial numbers break generic engines, and how to measure accuracy around decisions, not characters.

Read the guide Keep or discard

Aircraft Records Retention Requirements

Aircraft records retention requirements under 14 CFR 91.417: which records you can let go after a year, which transfer at sale, and why minimums mislead.

Read the guide Lessor records control

Aircraft Technical Records Management for Lessors

Aircraft technical records management for lessors: freeze the delivery baseline, run monthly evidence controls, and start return readiness a cycle early.

Read the guide Records modernization

Digital Aircraft Logbooks: Complete Guide

Digital aircraft logbook fundamentals: four maturity levels, a ten-step migration plan, and the integrity controls that keep scanned history trustworthy.

Read the guide Gap recovery

Missing Aircraft Logbooks: Value, Financing, and Recovery

What missing aircraft logbooks really cost in value and financing, and a recovery plan that keeps reconstruction honest about what can be proven.

Read the guide

STAY AIRWORTHY

Maintenance & compliance

Tracking systems, ADs, service bulletins, life-limited parts, and the FAA forms that document the work.

14 guides
LLP traceability

Aircraft Back-to-Birth Traceability Checklist

A working checklist for back-to-birth traceability on life-limited parts: rebuild each life segment from source records and classify the gaps a buyer will question.

Open the checklist Serialized parts

Aircraft Component Tracking Software

How to pick aircraft component tracking software that keeps serial identity and accumulated life intact as parts move between aircraft, shops, and owners.

Read the guide Mixed fleets

Aircraft Fleet Maintenance Software

What aircraft fleet maintenance software must do beyond single-tail tracking: one operating picture across mixed fleets without erasing tail-specific configuration.

Read the guide Remaining life

Aircraft Life-Limited Parts Tracking

Life-limited parts tracking that holds up under audit: prove part identity, rebuild accumulated cycles across installations, and never let a gap become zero time.

Read the guide Retention & transfer

Aircraft Maintenance Records: Requirements and Checklist

Which aircraft maintenance records the FAA requires, how long 91.417 says to keep them, and how to organize a set that survives an audit or a sale.

Open the checklist Software buyer’s guide

Aircraft Maintenance Software: How to Choose the Right System

Five different products get sold as aircraft maintenance software. This guide separates tracking, MRO execution, and records so you buy the combination you need.

Read the guide Six-sheet starter

Aircraft Maintenance Status Report Template

A six-sheet aircraft maintenance status report template, plus the fields that make it credible: utilization cutoff, evidence links, and an honest exception log.

Get the template Maintenance systems

Aircraft Maintenance Tracking Software: Buyer’s Guide

How to evaluate aircraft maintenance tracking software before the demo sells you: baseline reconciliation, due-date logic, and the evidence behind every status.

Read the guide Controlled workbook

Aircraft Maintenance Tracking Spreadsheet Template

This five-sheet maintenance tracking spreadsheet keeps due items, evidence, and exceptions separate, so a planning workbook never poses as a status record.

Get the template OEM publications

Aircraft Service Bulletin Tracking Guide

A defensible way to run service bulletin tracking: configuration-aware applicability, revision control, and the line between an SB and an AD.

Read the guide Part 39 compliance

Airworthiness Directive Tracking Software

Airworthiness directive tracking software has to defend three decisions: does the AD apply, how was it complied with, and when does it recur.

Read the guide Repairs & alterations

FAA Form 337: Major Repair and Alteration Guide

When FAA Form 337 is required for a major repair or alteration, what belongs in each block, and the defects reviewers catch most often in a pre-buy.

Read the guide Release certificates

FAA Form 8130-3: Airworthiness Approval Tag Guide

What an FAA Form 8130-3 actually certifies, how blocks 13 and 14 differ, and why the tag alone never proves a part's full life history.

Read the guide Charter operators

Part 135 Maintenance Tracking Software

Why Part 135 maintenance tracking software must start from your ops specs and approved program, and how to test a vendor against conformity reality.

Read the guide

See what Radar finds in your own records.

FOR CREDIT TEAMS

Banks & lenders

Collateral monitoring, LTV, and portfolio management for the aircraft behind every loan.

3 guides
For banks and lenders

Aircraft Collateral Monitoring for Banks and Lenders

The loan can stay current while the aircraft loses value. A working framework for aircraft collateral monitoring, from LTV drift and lien filings to recovery readiness.

Read the guide For aircraft lenders

Aircraft Loan Portfolio Management for Banks

How banks run aircraft loan portfolio management after closing: baselines worth freezing, concentrations hiding in engine programs, and files that survive a workout.

Read the guide For credit teams

Aircraft LTV Monitoring for Banks and Lenders

Aircraft LTV monitoring depends on what each number hides: which exposure, which value date, which engine status. Keep both sides of the ratio current and defensible.

Read the guide

FOR BUILDERS AND SHOPS

OEMs & MROs

Records at the source: production, delivery, work orders, and Part 145 document control.

3 guides
For aircraft OEMs

Digital Aircraft Records for OEMs

Why OEMs should preserve the as-delivered baseline instead of overwriting it. Digital aircraft records connect factory configuration to field history and warranty claims.

Read the guide Work packages

MRO Document Management for Aircraft Maintenance

MRO document management that treats records as a production control: task evidence, findings, parts trace, and a customer package built during the visit, not at delivery.

Read the guide For repair stations

Part 145 Document Management Software: Requirements and Workflow

FAA and EASA Part 145 record rules differ, and software must prove which revision governed each task. What to demand from Part 145 document management software.

Read the guide

MODEL IT YOURSELF

Tools & calculators

Guides that pair with the live calculators. Run the numbers, then challenge the assumptions.

7 guides
Balance-sheet fit

Aircraft Affordability Calculator and Ownership Capacity Planner

Run an aircraft affordability calculator on the page: cash to close, annual carry, and the liquidity left after the wire. Then stress the plan before committing.

Use the calculator Financing tool

Aircraft Loan Calculator

Use the aircraft loan calculator on this page to estimate payment, amount financed, and balloon, then see how lenders set the number they will actually advance.

Use the calculator Underwriting prep

Aircraft Loan Readiness and Lender Packet Builder

Score your aircraft loan readiness on the page before a lender does. Catch the stale appraisal or missing engine program statement that stalls underwriting.

Read the guide Planning calculator

Aircraft Maintenance Reserve Calculator

Build hourly and annual aircraft maintenance reserves in the on-page calculator, with the engine, APU, and inspection math shown so nothing is double counted.

Use the calculator Ownership planning tool

Aircraft Operating Cost Calculator

An aircraft operating cost calculator you can run right on the page, plus what a single hourly number hides: fixed costs spread across fewer flight hours.

Use the calculator Records review tool

Aircraft Records Completeness Scorecard

Work through a 16-group aircraft records completeness scorecard on the page. A high score with one unsupported life-limited part is still a weak file.

Use the calculator Missing logbooks

Aircraft Records Risk and Value Impact Assessment

Missing logbooks rarely mean one flat discount. Classify the aircraft records gap in the on-page tool and see which facts you can still prove to a buyer or lender.

Read the guide

See what Radar finds in your own records.

Bring a tail, a records package, or a loan portfolio. We will show you the evidence behind it.

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