Definition
Permanent maintenance records for the aircraft's airframe — the physical structure of the airplane excluding the engine, propeller, and certain other separately logged components. The airframe logbook documents inspections, repairs, alterations, airworthiness directive compliance, and the overall maintenance history of the structure throughout its service life.
Plain English
The official written history of everything that has been done to the body of the airplane — every inspection, repair, and modification — kept in a dedicated book that stays with the aircraft.
Context Anchor
Seen during preflight assessment, aircraft checkout, rental checkout, purchase inspection, and any time a pilot or mechanic verifies that required aircraft records are current.
Derivation
‘Airframe’ combines ‘air’ with ‘frame,’ meaning the structural framework of the aircraft. ‘Logbook’ comes from the old maritime ‘log’ — a record of a ship's voyages and condition. Together: the running written record of the aircraft's structure.
Why Pilots Care
Confirms the aircraft meets legal airworthiness requirements and reveals any overdue maintenance before flight.
Intuition Check
Do not confuse airframe logbooks with a pilot’s personal flight logbook. Airframe logbooks belong to the aircraft and record its maintenance history, not the pilot’s flight time.
Example Sentence 1
Before the checkride, the examiner asked the applicant to locate the most recent annual inspection entry in the airframe logbook.
Example Sentence 2
After the landing gear repair, the mechanic made the required entry in the airframe logbooks before returning the aircraft to service.