Incident Overview
The aircraft struck transmission wires during a forced landing that followed a complete loss of engine power. The power loss occurred approximately 7 nautical miles from the intended destination.
Pilot Report
According to the pilot, en route about 150 nautical miles from the destination, the fuel site gauges indicated half a tank in the right wing and just under half a tank in the left wing. Based on these indications, the pilot calculated remaining fuel at about 11 gallons, which he determined sufficient to complete the flight. The pilot then began a slow descent in preparation for entering the traffic pattern. He reported that with 7 nautical miles showing on the GPS and while passing 2,000 feet MSL, the engine stopped. He attempted a restart but soon felt the controls become mushy, after which he focused on setting up for a forced landing.
Fuel Management and System Details
The pilot stated the aircraft was topped off with 22 gallons of fuel before departure. The previous flight lasted 3.6 hours with a calculated fuel burn of 6.1 gallons per hour. The accident flight lasted 3.8 hours. According to the kit manufacturer, the installed fuel tank configuration consisted of two 13-gallon wing tanks and a header tank. The wing tanks had an unusable fuel quantity of about 2.5 gallons per tank (5 gallons total) in a descent attitude, as fuel tends to run forward away from the tank outlet. During such periods, fuel is supplied from the header tank. The pilot reported the header tank capacity as 3/4 gallon.
Fuel Endurance and Distance Calculations
After a 3.8-hour flight at a fuel burn rate of 6.1 gallons per hour, approximately 2.8 gallons remained in the wing tanks. The endurance of the 3/4-gallon header tank at that burn rate was about 7 minutes, corresponding to roughly 14 miles at a ground speed of 120 knots. The pilot reported that his descent began 20 miles from the airport, and the engine quit 7 miles from the airport.