Helping to kick off the annual Sun ’n Fun Aerospace Expo in Lakeland, Florida, ScaleWings Aircraft, maker of the popular SW-51 kitplane, said it entered a strategic partnership with Crewchief Systems to offer U.S. customers an integrated digital system for managing their aircraft’s maintenance, operations, and other data traditionally found in paper logbooks.
Under the partnership, buyers of new ScaleWings aircraft will receive a Crewchief subscription, allowing them to keep a full digital record of their airplane from the day of purchase. The companies said the Crewchief platform “eliminates reliance on traditional paper logbooks and fragmented documentation, replacing them with real-time, intuitive aircraft intelligence that provides full visibility into maintenance history, operational data, and compliance status throughout the aircraft lifecycle.”
Popular Kitplane
ScaleWings is based in Eggenfelden, Germany, with its factory in Krosno, Poland, in a region known as the Aviation Valley. The company has found traction in the homebuilt market with the SW-51, a 70-percent scale version of the North American P-51 Mustang.
The aircraft, made mostly of carbon fiber, is remarkably faithful to the full-size Mustang’s profile yet is known for responsive, sport-plane style handling that makes it less intimidating and more forgiving than a typical warbird. With a FADEC-controlled, 160 hp Rotax 916iS engine, Garmin avionics, and an available airframe parachute, the SW-51 is meant to give pilots the extreme ramp appeal of a warbird with modern technology and safety features.
Digital Logging
Now it also offers more-efficient recordkeeping.
“ScaleWings is integrating aircraft asset intelligence at the point of production, not as an afterthought,” said Aaron de Zafra, CEO at Crewchief Systems, based in Mill Valley, California, in a press release. “With built-in redundancy and version control, operators, owners, and service teams gain clearer maintenance oversight and long-term data integrity.”
Among Crewchief’s critical functions is helping owners keep track of airworthiness directives, service bulletins, inspections, and maintenance status. Keeping these elements organized in one place helps streamline the maintenance process, audits, ownership transfers, and other events that require access to detailed records.
“ScaleWings is built on the concept of leveraging 21st-century technology to modernize a legacy product,” said Christian von Kessel, CEO of ScaleWings Aircraft. “This partnership with Crewchief Systems modernizes the outmoded paper documentation with digital assets, accessible from anywhere, in real time, with high confidence in compliance. This enhances the ownership experience with the same level of innovation and technology our customers appreciate.”