Maintenance

Your role matters here

Admins create work orders and resolve squawks. Mechanics have full maintenance authority — work orders, squawks, aircraft status changes, and MX history. Other roles don’t see this page.

A student reports the left brake feels soft. Here’s what happens next.

That observation becomes a squawk. The squawk triggers a work order. The work order gets assigned, tracked, and closed. Parts are logged. Costs are captured. The aircraft returns to service with a full paper trail. WingWrangler handles every step.

Work Order Lifecycle

Every maintenance task follows the same path. Open it, work it, close it.

Status	Meaning
Open	Squawk filed or inspection due. Waiting on a wrench.
In Progress	Mechanic’s on it. Parts are being pulled.
Completed	Signed off. Aircraft returned to service.
Cancelled	Duplicate entry, or the issue couldn’t be reproduced.

Priority Levels

Not every squawk grounds an airplane. But some do. WingWrangler sorts them so you handle the right thing first.

Priority	Urgency	Example
Critical	Aircraft grounded until resolved	Cracked engine mount, stuck elevator trim, fuel leak
High	Needs attention before next flight	Landing light out at night, sticky mag switch, soft brake
Medium	Schedule it soon	100-hour inspection coming due, oil analysis trending
Low	Next convenient downtime	Seat rail stiff, faded placards, cosmetic paint chip

Squawk to Work Order

A pilot writes up a squawk after a flight. Maybe the #2 COM is intermittent. Maybe there’s a shimmy on rollout. Here’s how it flows from report to resolution.

Note

Critical squawks automatically ground the aircraft. No one can book or dispatch it until the work order is completed and signed off. This isn’t optional — it’s how you keep planes and people safe.

Your mechanic reviews the squawk and decides: does this need a full work order, or is it a quick fix? A burned-out panel light might get resolved on the spot. A rough-running engine on the #3 cylinder gets a work order, parts tracking, and a logbook entry.

Mechanic Assignment

You can assign a work order to a specific A&P, or drop it in the general queue and let someone claim it.

Assignment	Behavior
Assigned	Goes straight to that mechanic’s queue. They get notified.
Unassigned	Visible to all mechanics. First one to claim it owns it.

If you’ve got a mechanic who specializes in avionics, assign radio squawks directly. For routine stuff — oil changes, tire swaps — the general queue works fine.

Parts and Costs

Every part pulled off the shelf gets logged against the work order. Every hour of labor, too. You’ll know exactly what N12345’s annual cost you, down to the last cotter pin.

Tracked	Purpose
Parts	Know what you’re burning through. Reorder before you’re out.
Labor	See where hours go. Spot inefficiencies.
Total cost	Decide whether to overhaul or replace. Plan your fleet budget.

Scheduled Maintenance

100-hour inspections. Annuals. Oil changes every 50 hours or 4 months, whichever comes first. WingWrangler tracks all of it and warns you before anything goes overdue.

Schedule Type	Example
Calendar	Annual inspection — 12 calendar months, no exceptions
Hours	100-hour inspection for aircraft used in flight training
Both	Oil change every 50 hours or 4 months, whichever hits first

You set the intervals. WingWrangler calculates the due dates based on your Hobbs and tach readings. When an item’s approaching, you’ll see it on the dashboard and get a notification. No spreadsheet required.

Airworthiness Directives

ADs aren’t suggestions. Track compliance for every applicable AD — one-time and recurring — right alongside your other maintenance items.

Caution

WingWrangler tracks your AD compliance dates and intervals. It doesn’t replace your responsibility to research applicable ADs through the FAA’s AD database. You still need to identify what applies to your airframe, engine, and props. The system keeps you on schedule — it doesn’t tell you what’s on the list.

Enter the AD number, record when you complied, and flag whether it’s recurring. For recurring ADs, set the interval — hours or calendar — and WingWrangler monitors it just like any other scheduled item.

Maintenance Blocks

When N7892K is going in for its 100-hour, you don’t want students booking it at 2pm. Create a maintenance block on the schedule. The aircraft shows as unavailable during that window. No conflicts. No phone calls.

Block the time before you pull the cowling. If work runs long, extend the block. Dispatchers and students see the block in real time — they’ll book around it.

Reports

You can’t manage what you don’t measure. Pull reports on work order status, fleet-wide costs, and recurring squawk patterns.

Report	Shows
Work orders	Open, completed, and overdue — filtered by aircraft, mechanic, or date range
Costs	What you’re spending per tail number, per month, per fleet
Reliability	Which aircraft keep coming back for the same squawk. Spot the lemon.

If N5432A has had three alternator squawks in six months, the reliability report surfaces that. You’ll see the pattern before it becomes an MEL item — or worse, a Part 91.7 problem on the ramp.

Quick Reference

Task	Path
Create work order	Maintenance → New Work Order
View squawks	Maintenance → Squawks
Schedule maintenance	Aircraft → Scheduled Items
Block calendar	Schedule → Maintenance Block
View history	Aircraft → Maintenance History