What happened
During a night cruise flight, the pilot experienced a noticeable drop in manifold pressure. The engine subsequently lost power and began to backfire; attempts to rectify the issue by adjusting different power settings were unsuccessful. Following the loss of power, the interior of the aircraft's windshield frosted over.
Due to the presence of powerlines, the pilot elected to land in a field adjacent to the road rather than attempting a landing on the roadway itself. To assist with the landing, the pilot utilized the side window and the aircraft's landing lights as visual aids.
The investigation
An on-scene investigation determined that there was no fuel present in the fuel tanks or the electric fuel pump at the time of the incident. Following the investigation, fuel was added to the aircraft, and the engine was successfully test run according to the manufacturer's specifications.