FAQ
Questions owner-pilots ask
Short answers. Where the honest answer is “not yet”, we say so.
About the record
Is ChockOps my official techlog?
Not by itself. ChockOps is a record-keeping aid. Whether an electronic techlog is accepted as the aircraft’s record is for your authority and your CAMO to decide. Many owners keep the paper sheet as the legal record and run ChockOps as the live, shared copy, with the PDF of every flight archived. Ask your CAMO before you switch.
Is the pilot logbook accepted by EASA or my authority?
The logbook follows the AMC1 FCL.050 layout and exports a PDF in that layout. Acceptance of an electronic logbook is a matter for your national authority. ChockOps does not claim an EASA approval. Check your authority’s requirements before you rely on it as your only logbook.
Does ChockOps replace my CAMO?
No. It is not CAMO software and it does not make your aircraft Part-ML compliant. Your CAMO/CAO, or your owner-declared maintenance programme, remains the legal anchor. ChockOps gives you a live view of the record and helps you meet your own duties toward your CAMO: hours, defects and pilot-owner maintenance notices.
I have a CAMO. What does ChockOps change for me?
Under Part-ML you stay responsible for airworthiness. ChockOps gives you the due list, the defects, the deferrals and the CRSs in one shared record, and lets your CAMO work in it with the maintenance role. A free CAMO guest role, a scheduled report to your CAMO and an AI import of your CAMO’s status report are coming soon.
I declare my own maintenance programme. Does ChockOps help?
Today it tracks the items by hours, days and landings, with warnings and tolerances, and proposes the programme from your paperwork (in beta, one aircraft type so far; a generator for any type is coming soon). A guided owner-declared AMP builder from the EASA Form AMP and the MIP is coming soon, after legal review.
Can my mechanic or shop use it? What does it cost them?
Yes. Give them the maintenance role; it is free. They see the live techlog, hours and defects, defer and close defects with the CRS reference, record events and email you the CRS. A read-only guest role without an account is coming soon.
What happens to a row after I close it?
You can edit it for 24 hours. Then it locks. Only an admin can change it after that, with a mandatory reason. Nothing is deleted; a voided row keeps its number and leaves the counters. Every change keeps its before and after.
Aircraft and helicopters
Does it work for helicopters?
Partly, and we are honest about it. The pilot logbook fully supports helicopters today: a helicopter view, FCL.740.H type ratings, LAPL(H) and IR(H) recency, and helicopter leg detection on track files. The aircraft side (helicopter techlog, rotor hours, starts, NG/NF cycles, Robinson 12-year/2,200-hour limits, VEMD photo capture) is coming soon and first on the roadmap.
Will ChockOps compute my turbine engine cycles?
No. Turbine cycles are weighted partial cycles defined by the engine manufacturer. ChockOps will record the counter you read off the VEMD or recorder, track the delta per flight and alert on a jump. It never computes them, and the engine and CAMO record remain authoritative.
Which aircraft types are supported?
The techlog works for any aeroplane; the fields are built around a single-engine piston with a G1000 (hour meter, TKS, O2, USG fuel). A type library with DA40/42/50, C172/182, PA-28, SR20/22, R22/R44/R66, Cabri G2, H125 and more, with the right counters (Hobbs, tach, hour meter) and a default maintenance template, is coming soon.
My aircraft has Hobbs and tach, not a G1000 hour meter.
Today the counter field is one hour-meter reading. Counter kinds per type are part of the type library (coming soon). Until then you record whichever reading your maintenance programme uses.
Does ChockOps track ADs and SBs?
Today you can record AD compliance as a one-off maintenance item and file AD/SB documents in the store, where the AI classifies them. An AD/SB applicability engine fed by the EASA biweekly list and FAA ADs, with an AI draft and your confirmation, is coming soon.
Does it track life-limited parts and components?
Not yet. A component register with log cards, TSN/TSO/CSN, calendar life and the Form 1 attached is coming soon. Today you can model a life limit as a maintenance item with hours and calendar limits.
Does it do weight and balance?
Not yet. The POH digitiser and a W&B and performance calculator saved per flight are coming soon. Today the POH and the W&B sheet are stored, classified and searchable.
Avionics and data
Which avionics logs can it read?
Live today: Garmin G1000 NXi CSV into the techlog, with touch-and-go detection and fuel integrated from fuel flow. GPX, KML and CSV tracks into the logbook. Coming soon, in order: Garmin legacy CSV (older G1000, Perspective, G3000, TXi, GI 275), G3X/G5, EFB tracks into the techlog, JPI EDM, Dynon SkyView, IGC, flyGarmin/PlaneSync, helicopter VEMD/EMU photo capture, CloudAhoy, EI, Rotax B.U.D.S. The full list is on the integrations page.
I use ForeFlight / SkyDemon / Garmin Pilot. Can I import my flights?
Export the track as GPX or KML and upload it; it becomes an estimated logbook draft. The ForeFlight navlog PDF imports into trips. ForeFlight Logbook CSV imports into the logbook. Feeding the techlog from an EFB track is coming soon.
Can I import my existing logbook?
Yes, from flylog.io, ForeFlight, MyFlightbook, mccPILOTLOG, CrewLounge, LogTen Pro, or any CSV/XLSX with column mapping. Preview first, decide per row, re-import safely. Paper logbooks by photo, with arithmetic checks.
Does it pull my flights from ADS-B automatically?
Not in the paid service yet. Our own operation uses OpenSky, whose terms do not allow commercial use, so we cannot ship it as is. Flightradar24 API support is in beta. A licensed ADS-B source, or bring-your-own key, is coming soon.
Will you decrypt my engine’s proprietary log file?
No. Encrypted or undocumented files (some FADEC engines, some recorders) will be stored, tagged and shared with your shop. We do not break encryption or reverse-engineer against a licence.
Is there an API?
Not yet. The app runs on its own private API with no keys or webhooks. A public REST API with scoped tokens, signed webhooks, docs and a sandbox is coming soon. You can request early API access on the integrations page.
AI
What does the AI do, and what does it not do?
It classifies documents, extracts dates, expiries, amounts, registrations and TTAF, reads paper logbook pages and credentials, proposes maintenance items from CRSs and work reports, proposes a maintenance programme from your paperwork, researches airports and drafts ops emails. It never applies a change by itself. You confirm every suggestion.
Which AI is used, and does it train on my documents?
Anthropic Claude. [PLACEHOLDER: data-processing terms, region and training statement, to be confirmed against the vendor’s terms before publishing.]
Can I use ChockOps without the AI?
Yes. Without an AI key every feature works by hand: you categorise documents yourself, type the logbook rows and write your own emails.
Can the AI digitise my POH and my aircraft logbooks?
Today they are stored, classified and full-text searchable. Turning the POH into structured limits, V-speeds, W&B and checklists, and aircraft, engine and prop logbook pages into a maintenance history, is coming soon.
Sharing, data and money
Where is my data hosted?
The app and its database: in the European Union. [PLACEHOLDER: hosting provider and region] AI steps send the document or text being read to Anthropic (see the AI questions). Billing is not live yet; when it is, payments will be handled by a payment provider and ChockOps will never see your card details.
Can I get my data out?
Yes, at any time and on every plan: the techlog as a paper-faithful PDF and CSV, the logbook as an EASA PDF, CSV and ZIP, and every document you uploaded. The logbook ZIP is also emailed to you monthly. A whole-aircraft export and a records-transfer bundle are coming soon.
What happens if I cancel?
Paid features run to the end of the period. Then the account becomes read-only: you can open, print and export everything. We do not delete your data unless you ask.
Do the pilots of my aircraft need a paid plan?
No. Pilots and maintenance you invite use the aircraft’s techlog, maintenance view, documents and trips free. Their own logbook is on the Free plan unless they choose Pilot.
We are a group of four owners. How does it work?
One Aircraft plan for the aircraft, roles for each person. Today: shared techlog, defects, documents, notifications and logbook drafts. Shared ownership workspaces are in beta. Booking, cost per hour, expense ledger and group billing are coming soon.
Does it work offline and on my phone?
Yes. ChockOps installs as an app on phones and tablets. You can open and close a techlog row, enter a logbook entry and read a trip without a connection. It syncs when you are back online, with conflicts shown side by side.
Is it available in my language?
English and Hungarian today, in the app and in every email. More languages are on the roadmap.
When can I start?
Early access opens [PLACEHOLDER: date]. Join the list and we email you when your invitation is ready. First invitations go to owner-pilots and ownership groups in Europe.
How do I help you build my importer sooner?
Send an anonymised sample of your avionics or engine-monitor log to [PLACEHOLDER: samples email]. Dynon, EI, Avidyne, Cirrus IQ, Rotax B.U.D.S., G3X, older G1000 and JPI 930/960 samples are the ones we need most.
Bring your aircraft out of the black box
Join the early-access list. We email you when your invitation is ready. If you have a log file from your avionics or engine monitor, send us an anonymised sample and we will build your importer sooner.