Incident Overview
The pilot of an aircraft was flying to an intended destination when adverse weather conditions, which had not been forecast, were encountered. After circling the area around the destination a couple of times, the pilot decided to divert to Marquette, Michigan. However, before reaching the alternate airport, the engine lost power due to fuel exhaustion. Subsequently, during a night landing, the aircraft collided with trees.
Fuel Management
The pilot had planned the flight to arrive at the original destination with sufficient fuel to continue to an alternate airport if needed. He noted that the aircraft was not equipped with an exhaust gas temperature (EGT) gauge. Without this instrument, his attempts to lean the mixture to a more efficient fuel-to-air ratio were relatively imprecise. This imprecision likely contributed to higher fuel consumption than anticipated.
Night Landing and Collision
The engine failure occurred before the pilot could reach the diversion airport. With the engine no longer producing power, the pilot executed a landing at night. During this landing, the aircraft struck trees. The investigation did not specify the subsequent condition of the aircraft or occupants.