Accident Summary
A pilot reported that he departed a grass airstrip with no fuel available en route to Michael J. Smithfield in Beaufort, North Carolina. He stated that the fuel gauges were unreliable and that he used a homemade dipstick to measure the fuel tanks, reporting 35 gallons onboard. Based on previous flights, he estimated that 17 gallons would be required for the trip.
Pilot Actions
The pilot reported that a new engine had recently been installed with instructions to operate at full rich mixture during the break-in period; the flight was conducted with the mixture set accordingly. While cruising at 5,500 feet, unexpected headwinds were encountered. The engine was initially operating on the left main tank when it sputtered and quit. After checking the fuel gauges, the pilot switched to the right main tank and contacted Air Traffic Control (ATC) at Cherry Point, North Carolina for flight following to Craven County Airport in New Bern, North Carolina. Approximately three minutes later, the engine again sputtered and quit. The pilot switched the fuel selector to each of the four tanks individually but was unable to restart the engine. The New Bern tower authorized an emergency landing on any runway and alerted airport fire and rescue vehicles. During the descent, the pilot raised the flaps from the approach setting to zero, resulting in a greater sink rate. Unable to reach the runway, the airplane contacted the downhill side of a knoll at 100 miles per hour, bounced 195 feet, contacted the ground, and stopped short of runway 04.
Post-Accident Findings
The pilot was uninjured and stated during a subsequent interview that the engine was running fine when power was lost and that he ran out of fuel. The pilot also reported that he had overflown several airports where additional fuel could have been purchased. Post-accident examination of the airframe did not reveal any flight control anomalies.