Adding Components

Components are the parts of your aircraft BetterPlane tracks by hours: meters like the tach, and hardware like engines and propellers. Hours, fuel and oil, and engine records all depend on them, so components are usually the first thing to set up.

Common components:

• Tach: the reading from your tachometer. It measures engine revolutions, not clock time, and owners commonly use it to approximate time in service. Most piston aircraft should have this component.
• Hobbs: real clock time, usually from master-on to master-off. Add this if your aircraft has a Hobbs meter. In rare cases, a Hobbs meter is wired to a squat switch or a pressure-activated switch instead. That meter runs only in flight or only while the engine runs, which is closer to true time in service.
• Airframe (TTAF): total time in service of the airframe. Your maintenance records must include this (14 CFR 91.417). Add this component to track it directly, especially when a replaced tach no longer matches the true airframe time.
• Engine: tracks engine time since new and since overhaul, separate from the recording instrument. Link this to a Tach component.
• Propeller / Rotor: tracks time in service for a propeller or rotor, also required records under 14 CFR 91.417. Link it to a tach or hobbs, the same as an engine.
• Other: a custom component for anything else you want to track by hours. Name it what you like, and point it at a tach or hobbs if it should follow one.

You need the Officer or Manager role to add components.

If you are not sure which type to add, tap Confused? Learn about component types on the Add a Component screen for a plain explanation of each one.

Add your meters first. Every other component links to one of them.

1. Open the aircraft and find the Overview card.
2. Tap the three-dot menu in the top right corner.
3. Tap Add Component.
4. Choose TACH or HOBBS from the Component Type dropdown.
5. Check the Display Name field. It fills in automatically. Edit it if you want a custom name (for example, “Left Tach”).
6. Enter the Total Time (Hrs) shown on the meter.
7. Optional: add the manufacturer, model, or serial number (see Optional fields).
8. Tap Save Component.

These components have no meter of their own. Point each one at the tach or hobbs that tracks its hours, and every hours update flows to it automatically.

1. Open the aircraft and find the Overview card.
2. Tap the three-dot menu in the top right corner.
3. Tap Add Component.
4. Choose ENGINE, PROPELLER, ROTOR, AIRFRAME, or OTHER from the Component Type dropdown.
5. Check the Display Name field. Edit it if you want a custom name (for example, “Left Engine”).
6. Enter the Total Time (Hrs) for the component.
7. In the Time Source dropdown below Total Time (Hrs), choose the tach or hobbs that tracks this component’s hours. Choose None (independent) if it does not follow a meter.
8. Optional: add since-overhaul hours, manufacturer, model, or serial number (see Optional fields).
9. Tap Save Component.

If the Time Source dropdown has nothing to choose, add a tach or hobbs first.

Tap the extra fields menu (labeled SOH, Model, Serial…) to add:

• Since Overhaul (Hrs)
• Manufacturer
• Model
• Serial Number

Add Notes at the bottom of the form if needed.