SMA RUNS OUT OF GAS AND IS SLIGHTLY DAMAGED WHILE LNDG ON A ROAD.

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ON THE AFTERNOON OF MAY/THU/93; I WAS AT THE VANCE BRAND ARPT IN LONGMONT; CO; PREPARING FOR AN AEROBATIC PRACTICE SESSION IN AN SMA. MY AEROBATICS INSTRUCTOR WOULD BE CRITIQUING MY MANEUVERS FROM THE GND. IT WAS MID- AFTERNOON AND THE USUAL TSTMS WERE BUILDING ALONG THE FOOTHILLS 15 MI TO THE W. I WOULD BE FLYING ALMOST DIRECTLY OVER THE ARPT AND PLANNED TO LAND BEFORE TSTMS BECAME A FACTOR. I ESTIMATED MY FUEL SUPPLY TO BE 16 GALLONS; PLENTY FOR 30 MINS AT MAX PWR AND FOR THE 30 MIN RESERVE AT CRUISE THAT I WOULD LAND WITH. I DEPARTED RWY 29 AT APPROX XX20 PM; CLBED TO A SAFE ALT AND PROCEEDED WITH THE PRACTICE SESSION. AFTER 20-25 MINS; I DECIDED TO LAND AND RADIOED MY INTENTIONS TO MY INSTRUCTOR. I SWITCHED TO UNICOM AND BEGAN DSNDING TO PATTERN ALT. THE WIND AT THAT TIME WAS ABOUT 10 KTS FROM THE W. AS I TURNED BASE TO SHORT FINAL FOR RWY 29; UNICOM RPTED THE WIND AT 19 GUSTING TO 25 FROM 240. THIS WAS GOING TO BE THE STRONGEST XWIND I HAD EVER LANDED THE SMA IN AND I WAS CONCERNED THAT I WAS NOT SET UP PROPERLY ON SHORT FINAL TO EXECUTE A SAFE LNDG. I ELECTED TO GAR AND SET UP A BETTER APCH FOR A XWIND LNDG. IT TOOK LESS THAN A MIN FOR ME TO REPOS MYSELF ON FINAL AGAIN; BUT THEN UNICOM RPTED THE WIND SPD AT 29 GUSTING TO 35; STILL FROM 240. AS I WAS PREPARING TO DIVERT; MY INSTRUCTOR CAME UP ON THE UNICOM FREQ AND ADVISED ME TO LAND AT TRI-COUNTY ARPT IN ERIE. THIS ARPT IS ROUGHLY 10 MI SE OF VANCE BRAND AND I ARRIVED THERE IN ROUGHLY 5 MINS. AS I APCHED; I COULD SEE A CELL OVER THE ARPT WITH VIRGA DSNDING FROM IT. I CALLED SEVERAL TIMES FOR ADVISORIES AND FINALLY HEARD THAT THE WIND WAS FROM THE W. I DECIDED TO TRY TO LAND ON RWY 27. AS I TURNED BASE THE TURB INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY AND I COULD SEE THAT DUST ON THE GND WAS BLOWING IN ALL DIRECTIONS. I DECIDED THAT IT WAS NOT SAFE TO PROCEED WITH THE LNDG AND LOOKED AROUND FOR MY NEXT OPTION. IT WAS CLR OUT E AND I ESTIMATED THAT FRONT RANGE ARPT WAS ABOUT 25 MI SE OF TRI-COUNTY. THIS WOULD TAKE UNDER 15 MINS; SO I WOULD HAVE PLENTY OF FUEL AT CRUISE PWR. I CALLED UP DENVER APCH FOR CLRNC THROUGH THE DENVER TCA. ABOUT 7 MI NW OF FRONT RANGE ARPT; THE ENG STARTED SPUTTERING AND THEN QUIT. I LANDED ON A DIRT ROAD BUT DURING THE ROLLOUT; THE ACFT SLIPPED OFF INTO THE R SOFT SHOULDER AND HEADED INTO A SOFT PLOWED FIELD. DESPITE MY BEST ATTEMPTS TO HOLD THE TAIL DOWN; THE ACFT NOSED OVER AND BENT A PROP BLADE. ALSO; FABRIC ON THE UNDERSIDE OF THE LOWER R WING WAS RIPPED; BUT THERE WAS NO STRUCTURAL DAMAGE AND NO INJURIES. AN FAA AIRWORTHINESS INSPECTOR FOUND LESS THAN 2 CUPS OF FUEL REMAINING. I BELIEVE THAT I OVERESTIMATED THE AMOUNT OF FUEL I HAD ON BOARD BY 3-4 GALLONS. I BASED MY INITIAL ESTIMATE ON RPTS BY THE PREVIOUS PLT OF HOW MUCH TIME HE HAD PUT ON THE PLANE AT WHAT PWR SETTINGS. I BELIEVE THAT THE 3-4 GALLON SHORTFALL CAN BE EXPLAINED BY INACCURACIES IN THOSE ESTIMATES OF TIME AND FUEL CONSUMPTION RATE. IN THE FUTURE; I WILL CONSIDER ANY CONVECTIVE CLOUD ON THE HORIZON AS A POTENTIAL EMER AND WILL HAVE THE TANKS TOPPED OFF ACCORDINGLY.