Narrative:

Returning to my home airport after a short flight; engine began running rough on final. Landed uneventfully but on roll out engine stopped. Cleared runway onto apron of taxiway and advised ground control of stopped engine. Restart attempt was unsuccessful and was towed to FBO. Next day secured the assistance of an a&P mechanic who inspected the aircraft and could find no definitive cause; only a small amount of grit in a fuel screen. Two thorough static ground run-up and engine checks were made with no apparent problems. Aircraft was never 'taken out of service'. Subsequently the a&P and I conducted a flight test orbiting over the runway with the tower's approval and detected no problems in climb; cruise and descent with multiple power settings and altitude changes and landed uneventfully. The a&P advised that he would mail or email me a log book entry. In a subsequent conversation with an FAA representative; he indicated that the test flight could not be made until the a&P had entered into aircraft's logbook that it was approved for 'return to service'. I was not aware that a log book entry was required prior to a test flight. It won't happen again.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A M20J's engine stopped after landing and the aircraft was towed to a hanger where a mechanic could find no cause for the power loss. The aircraft was test flown satisfactorily and subsequently the FAA said no logbook entry was made releasing the aircraft for a test flight.

Narrative: Returning to my home airport after a short flight; engine began running rough on final. Landed uneventfully but on roll out engine stopped. Cleared runway onto apron of taxiway and advised Ground Control of stopped engine. Restart attempt was unsuccessful and was towed to FBO. Next day secured the assistance of an A&P Mechanic who inspected the aircraft and could find no definitive cause; only a small amount of grit in a fuel screen. Two thorough static ground run-up and engine checks were made with no apparent problems. Aircraft was never 'taken out of service'. Subsequently the A&P and I conducted a flight test orbiting over the runway with the Tower's approval and detected no problems in climb; cruise and descent with multiple power settings and altitude changes and landed uneventfully. The A&P advised that he would mail or email me a log book entry. In a subsequent conversation with an FAA representative; he indicated that the test flight could not be made until the A&P had entered into aircraft's logbook that it was approved for 'return to service'. I was not aware that a log book entry was required PRIOR to a test flight. It won't happen again.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.