Cessna 182 pilot reported an engine failure while in the airport pattern due to fuel exhaustion. Pilot landed safely.

Date: 2024-05 · Aircraft: Skylane 182/RG Turbo Skylane/RG · Phase: descent

Anomalies: aircraft-equipment-problem-critical|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy|inflight-event-encounter-fuel-issue

Synopsis

Cessna 182 pilot reported an engine failure while in the airport pattern due to fuel exhaustion. Pilot landed safely.

Narrative

During routine flight operations I miscalculated fuel burn for a Cessna I have flown in the past. But I do not fly this specific 182 often; I flew for .8 hours and thought I would burn 16 gallons of the 30 I had during my pre-flight but instead I burned 25-30 gallons and used my entire fuel reserve until fuel starvation and engine failure. I was in the normal settings for climb according to the checklist but I was not fine tuning the mixture for peak efficiency like I do with the other aircraft. I was in a high downwind for landing Runway XX when the fuel reserve was gone and I lost engine power. I glided to the airport and made a safe landing without the engine. I tried some troubleshooting with fuel tank control and mixture and throttle but was unable to re-start the engine in flight. I think I was mistakenly controlling mixture as if it was the 182 I am used to flying and it was excessively rich causing a much higher than normal fuel burn for the short time I was flying. I made subsequent flights later the same day and had a fuel burn of 8 gallons for .4 hours with a better mixture setting. I think contributing factors were a feeling of recency and currency for C182 flying but not respecting the nuance of different models. And corrective action would be asking the pilot that normally flies this plane for advice on specific settings and things to look out for to mitigate excessive fuel burn in the climb.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.