Great Michigan Bush Co. Reviews BetterPlane

In December I reached out to “Scooter Stinson” of the Great Michigan Bush Co. (his YouTube Channel) to see if he’d be interested in checking out BetterPlane. He was kind enough to review the app and share his thoughts on the channel.

I also got a chance to talk with him a bit (he’s a super nice and thoughtful guy) and I’m very thankful to have his thoughts on the app. If you’re not already subscribed to his channel, you should be! I thought his video on winter flying was a great story.

Here’s his review of BetterPlane:

DZZY Films Partnership!

This must be the year for BetterPlane, as I’m excited to announce a BetterPlane partnership with Ethan O’Rourke of DZZY Films! (YouTube Channel: DZZY Films) Ethan is a fantastic filmmaker and I’m looking forward to working with him on some great content. If you are not subscribed to his YT channel (or his Instagram), you should be!

I’m not sure how, but the Universe must have aligned just right, because I happened to reach out to Ethan at the most perfect time I could have: he was working on a new video series about the restoration of a ’40s Aeronca Chief!

Check out the first video in the restoration series that just dropped this afternoon:

EAA Chapter 1688 Presentation

Another neat update: I presented BetterPlane at the Feb. 2nd, 2026 meeting of EAA Chapter 1688 in Longview, TX. The presentation was a success! I had a wonderful time meeting and talking to folks. We had a great discussion about the app, maintenance logbooks, and a whole slew of other topics.

Thanks to everyone who came out, and to Jo Gowing for organizing the event!

This is the second EAA Chapter presentation, and I look forward to presenting at more in the future!

Current Public Version: 1.5.3

Version 1.5.3 includes some solid wins — particularly several highly requested features around alert management:

• Alert Acknowledgment: turns off notifications for an alert and keeps it visible without completing it.
• Alert Completion: complete a previous maintenance item and create a new alert at the next interval with only a few taps.
• Improved alert screen layout.
• Improved document upload experience.
• Various platform upgrades.

Do you like this new flow? Feel free to send me a message and let me know!

Current Beta Version: 1.6.0

This is an exciting update. Quite a few folks have been waiting for the ability to import logbook pages directly from a PDF file. This is now possible with the beta version 1.6.0.

The PDF extractor has some guardrails in place while it proves itself, but within those bounds it’s been performing reliably. It does create a larger upload batch (current max is a 75-page PDF file), so a stable internet connection is recommended for larger uploads. The feature is still in beta, so please report any issues you encounter.

”The Small Planes” Project

Lastly, I want to share my side project again. TheSmallPlanes.com — It’s an aviation data journalism site exploring light aircraft statistics and trends across the USA. If you’re into aviation data and the stories behind the numbers, give it a look! If you have any requests for a specific analysis, let me know!

Don’t forget you can explore the Data on the site on your own as well!