CAP Maintenance Pilot User Guide

Reference for mission setup, taxi and runup capture, belly inspection photos, break-in logging, discrepancy tracking, and PDF export.

Current Scope: CAP Maintenance Pilot supports New Aircraft Delivery, Post-Maintenance Acceptance, and Engine Break-In mission types, with tabs and export content that adapt to the selected mission.
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Overview

CAP Maintenance Pilot is an iOS SwiftUI app for Civil Air Patrol Maintenance Pilot workflows. It helps organize mission setup, acceptance inspections, checklist tracking, discrepancy reporting, photo evidence, engine break-in data capture, and PDF export.

Mission data is stored locally with SwiftData and persists across launches.

Current Scope

Supported Mission Types

CAP Maintenance Pilot currently supports three mission types. Each mission type uses the same core workspace, but the available tabs and report content change based on the mission.

First Launch

When the app opens, it shows a mission list on the home screen.

Recommended Workflow

New Aircraft Delivery

  1. Complete mission identity and routing in Overview.
  2. Fill out the Acceptance worksheet during pickup and inspection.
  3. Use Checklist to track delivery coordination and required actions.
  4. Use Taxi / Runup to record engine start, taxi engine data, and runup readiness.
  5. Use Start Flight to move into the break-in phase.
  6. Log discrepancies and attach evidence in Discrepancies.
  7. Use Break-In Log for planning, timer-driven data capture, and post-flight break-in notes.
  8. Use End Flight after the last interval, then follow the wrap-up banner.
  9. Review Summary and export the PDF packet.

Post-Maintenance Acceptance

  1. Complete mission identity and maintenance contacts in Overview.
  2. Work through the Acceptance worksheet before and during the flight.
  3. Use Checklist to track preflight coordination, flight operations, and post-flight follow-up.
  4. Use Taxi / Runup to record engine start, taxi engine data, and runup readiness.
  5. Record issues in Discrepancies and attach supporting photos.
  6. Review Summary and export the acceptance-flight packet.

Engine Break-In

  1. Complete mission identity and sortie details in Overview.
  2. Use Checklist to confirm preflight coordination and post-flight reporting items.
  3. Use Taxi / Runup to record engine start, taxi engine data, and runup readiness.
  4. Use Start Flight to move into the break-in phase.
  5. Use Break-In Log for planning, interval timer use, and guided engine data entry.
  6. Use End Flight after the last interval, then follow the wrap-up banner.
  7. Record issues in Discrepancies and attach supporting photos.
  8. Review Summary and export the break-in packet.

Main Screens and Workspace

Home Screen

The home screen shows saved mission workspaces with a readiness headline, mission-type badge, status badge, aircraft tail number, mission date, and overall checklist progress.

You can open a mission, create a new mission, or delete a mission.

Mission Workspace

Each mission opens into a tabbed workspace. The exact tabs depend on mission type.

Tabs By Mission Type

New Aircraft Delivery

  1. Overview
  2. Acceptance
  3. Checklist
  4. Taxi / Runup
  5. Discrepancies
  6. Break-In Log
  7. Summary

Post-Maintenance Acceptance

  1. Overview
  2. Acceptance
  3. Checklist
  4. Taxi / Runup
  5. Discrepancies
  6. Summary

Engine Break-In

  1. Overview
  2. Checklist
  3. Taxi / Runup
  4. Discrepancies
  5. Break-In Log
  6. Summary

The tab bar also shows live status badges such as completion counts, worksheet progress, open discrepancy totals, and readiness counts.

Overview Tab

The Overview tab contains the mission setup details.

Mission Status

Mission Profile

Pilot and Crew

Aircraft and Routing

Sortie / Coordination Notes

This freeform notes card is used differently by mission type:

Acceptance Tab

The Acceptance tab is available for New Aircraft Delivery and Post-Maintenance Acceptance. It digitizes the Aircraft Maintenance Acceptance Worksheet.

Worksheet Status

Worksheet PDF

Use Acceptance Worksheet PDF to export a shareable PDF of the current worksheet state.

Worksheet Sections

General information includes starting Hobbs, starting Tach, and deferred or briefing notes. Worksheet notes are intended for documentation discrepancies, post-maintenance concerns, and follow-up items for Wing Maintenance.

Checklist Tab

The Checklist tab tracks mission workflow items outside the worksheet.

It always includes a preflight or coordination section, Flight Operations, a post-flight section, and Open Items.

New Aircraft Delivery Checklist

Post-Maintenance Acceptance Checklist

Engine Break-In Checklist

Open Items

Use Open Items for anything unresolved that does not fit a structured checkbox.

Taxi / Runup Tab

The Taxi / Runup tab is available for all mission types.

Start Flight

For mission types that use the break-in log, the taxi tab includes a Start Flight card.

When selected, CAP Maintenance Pilot:

The action stays disabled until the taxi and runup workflow is complete.

Discrepancies Tab

The Discrepancies tab is for issue tracking during inspection, taxi, flight, and post-flight.

Workflow Snapshot

This card summarizes open discrepancies, blocking discrepancies, and whether reporting is complete.

Discrepancy Records

Discrepancy Phases

Severity Levels

Status Values

Legacy Discrepancy Notes

This freeform notes area is available for roll-up discrepancy notes that are not tied to a single record.

Photo Attachments

Photo attachments are available from the discrepancy workflow area.

Photo categories include Discrepancy Evidence, Aircraft Condition, Placards & Documents, Post-Flight Inspection, and Other.

Photos may be imported from the photo library or the file importer. When a photo is linked to a discrepancy, the PDF packet groups that photo under the related issue.

Belly Inspection Photos

CAP Maintenance Pilot includes a dedicated belly inspection workflow for before-and-after comparison photos.

Where It Appears

What You Can Do

Photos may be captured with the camera or chosen from the photo library.

The mission summary PDF includes a belly inspection summary showing belly status plus whether a before-flight photo and after-flight photo are present.

Break-In Log Tab

The Break-In Log tab is available for New Aircraft Delivery and Engine Break-In. It is not shown for Post-Maintenance Acceptance.

The break-in workflow now starts most cleanly from the Start Flight action in Taxi / Runup.

Performance Planning

This area uses bundled POH and cruise-performance data to help determine target power settings.

The app displays current pressure altitude, target pressure altitude, target OAT, target density altitude, temperature deviation, density altitude authorization status, and recommended 75% and 65% power settings.

Supported Performance Resources

The planning card also provides access to the bundled POH file for the selected profile.

Airport Conditions

The Airport Conditions panel can automatically fill planning values.

The panel updates field elevation, outside air temperature, and altimeter setting.

For U.S. airports, common 3-letter identifiers are automatically normalized to ICAO by adding a leading K.

If airport conditions are unavailable, the app still works with manual planning entry.

Break-In Timer

The timer supports the break-in interval workflow.

Timer Behavior

Planned Power Schedule

Notifications and Apple Watch

When the timer runs, CAP Maintenance Pilot schedules a local notification at interval expiration.

If notifications are allowed and your Apple Watch is mirroring iPhone notifications, the watch can provide haptic feedback when the timer expires. The app still shows an in-app prompt even if the notification is missed.

End Flight

After all scheduled break-in intervals are complete, the Break-In Log tab provides an End Flight card.

When selected, CAP Maintenance Pilot:

Guided Break-In Log Entry

Each log interval can be opened as a guided workflow instead of requiring manual inline typing.

The guided OAT input supports negative temperatures.

Summary Tab

The Summary tab provides a roll-up of mission readiness and export actions.

Use this tab before handoff or mission completion to review what is still open.

Post-Flight Wrap-Up Banner

After End Flight on break-in-based missions, CAP Maintenance Pilot shows a Post-Flight Wrap-Up banner at the top of the destination tab.

The banner appears in:

It highlights remaining closeout items before export, such as incomplete post-flight checklist actions, missing after-flight belly photos, and open discrepancies.

If no closeout items remain, the banner changes to a green ready-to-export state.

Tappable Wrap-Up Items

Wrap-up items are actionable shortcuts. Selecting one can jump to the post-flight checklist section, the belly inspection card, the discrepancies workflow, or the summary export area.

PDF Export

CAP Maintenance Pilot currently supports two PDF exports:

  1. Mission Summary
  2. Acceptance Worksheet

Mission Summary PDF

The mission summary content varies by mission type.

New Aircraft Delivery

Post-Maintenance Acceptance

Engine Break-In

Acceptance Worksheet PDF

The worksheet PDF is intended for mission types that use the acceptance worksheet and includes:

Embedded Photo Appendix

Both exports can include a photo appendix when photos exist.

Data Persistence

The app uses SwiftData for local persistence.

Practical Notes

Known Limitations

Operational note: Mission data is local-only right now; there is no cloud sync yet.

Suggested Preflight Check Of The App

Before using CAP Maintenance Pilot operationally, run this quick check:

  1. Open the mission and confirm all identity fields are populated.
  2. Verify the mission type is correct.
  3. Test an airport-conditions fetch if you plan to use it.
  4. Start and stop one timer interval if the mission uses the break-in log.
  5. Add one test discrepancy and attach one photo.
  6. Export the mission summary PDF.
  7. Export the acceptance worksheet PDF if the mission uses the worksheet.