What TachMinder is and how the shared workspace works

TachMinder is a shared workspace where an aircraft owner and their mechanic manage the aircraft's maintenance together. Instead of phone tag, paper logbooks, and guesswork, both sides look at the same record for the same aircraft — maintenance history, AD compliance status, outstanding squawks, and what's coming due.

One aircraft, one record, two roles

You and your A&P already have a working relationship — you hire them; they work on your airplane. TachMinder's job is to remove the friction between you, not to change who does what. Federal regulations assign each side different responsibilities, and TachMinder is built around that split:

• The owner is primarily responsible for maintaining the aircraft in an airworthy condition (14 CFR §91.403) and is the custodian of the maintenance records (§91.417). In TachMinder, the owner owns the aircraft record and decides what goes in it.
• The mechanic holds the legal authority to approve most work for return to service. Under §43.9, the mechanic's logbook entry — with their signature, certificate number, and the kind of certificate they hold — is itself that approval. TachMinder records what was signed; it never certifies airworthiness or return to service itself.

Both sides view the same data. Only the legally authorized party can write a given kind of entry.

Two sides of the app

Owners work from the owner dashboard at /dashboard — aircraft times, maintenance schedule, AD status, squawks, flight logging, and document uploads. Mechanics and shops work from the provider side at /provider — the aircraft their clients have connected them to, with the maintenance context they need before and during a shop visit. If you're both an owner and a mechanic, one account can carry both roles.

What TachMinder is not

• Not a marketplace. There's no matchmaking, no ratings, no rankings. You bring the mechanic relationship you already have.
• Not a return-to-service authority. Only certificated mechanics can approve return to service. TachMinder records what they signed — nothing in the app is a signoff.
• Not a billing platform. Money and contracts happen between you and your mechanic, outside the app.

Where to go next

If you're an owner, start by adding your aircraft and getting your current tach and Hobbs times in — everything else builds on those. If you're a mechanic, see the guide on getting connected to a client's aircraft.