FUEL STARVATION IN A PA-24 DURING A NIGHT OP.

Narrative

I WAS FLYING FROM THE LINCOLN MUNICIPAL ARPT ENRTE TO LA JUNTA ARPT IN COLORADO. FLT CONDITIONS WERE DARK WITH ABOUT A 6000 FT OVERCAST. ABOUT 40 MI SOUTHWEST OF LINCOLN; AT AN ALT OF 6000 FT MSL THE ENG WITH NO WARNING; TOTALLY QUIT. AT THE TIME OF ENG FAILURE I HAD BEEN IN THE CLOUDS FOR ABOUT 2 MINS. I THEN DID MY HOMEMADE BEFORE LNDG/ENG FAILURE CHKLIST. I ATTEMPTED RESTART USING THIS PROC; FOR ABOUT 1.5 MINS; I THINK. NOW AT AN ALT OF ABOUT 5000 FT MSL I CALLED CTR AND SAID 'ZMP; COMANCHE I'M HAVING PROBS.'I WAITED A COUPLE OF SECONDS AND HAD NO RESPONSE. I THEN SAID 'ZMP; COMANCHE DECLARING EMER; I LOST MY ENG; CAN YOU GIVE ME A VECTOR TO THE NEAREST ARPT?' THE CTLR CAME BACK AND SAID 'COMANCHE THERE'S AN APART ABOUT A 330 DEG FROM YOU AT 11 MI. WITH A STRONG N WIND I KNEW I WOULDN'T MAKE IT AND ADVISED THE CTLR THAT I COULDN'T MAKE IT THAT FAR. USING THE ABOVE PROC FOR RESTART I SWITCHED THE FUEL SELECTOR VALVE TO THE R TANK (I HAD STARTED THE FLT USING THE L TANK; AND DIDN'T CHANGE IT UNTIL THE ENG FAILURE). I NOW SWITCHED THE FUEL SELECTOR VALVE BACK TO THE L TANK. ABOUT 30 SECONDS AFTER I HAD SWITCHED IT BACK TO THE L TANK THE ENG STARTED TO RUN AGAIN. IT RAN STRONG FOR ABOUT 10 SECONDS; THEN TOTALLY QUIT AGAIN. IT RAN STRONG FOR ABOUT 10 SECONDS; THEN TOTALLY QUIT AGAIN. I SUSPECTED CARB ICE BUT THE CARB HEAT YIELDED NO AFFECT. WITH ONE LAST EFFORT TO ATTEMPT RESTART BEFORE PREPARING FOR CRASH LNDG I MOVED THE FUEL SELECTOR VALVE TO THE R TANK ONCE AGAIN. I DON'T RECALL EVER LOOKING AT THE GAS GAUGES FOR EACH TANK. I HAD BEEN IN THE AIR FOR ABOUT 30 MINUTES; AND HAD FULL TANKS BEFORE I LEFT. ABOUT 10 SECONDS FROM ME GOING THROUGH THE SHUTDOWN PROC; THE ENG STARTED AGAIN. IT RAN REALLY ROUGH FOR ABOUT 3-4 MINS AS I WAS ABLE TO JUST HOLD ALT AT 80 KTS. THE LONGER IT RAN; THE BETTER IT RAN; AND I WAS ABLE TO CLB TO 7000 FT MSL. I CALLED CTR AND TOLD THEM I WAS GOING TO LAND IN HARVARD ARPT; ABOUT 5 MI N OF ME AT THIS TIME. AT THE ARPT I TOOK FUEL SAMPLES; AND NOTICED NO WATER IN THE FUEL; BUT SOME CONTAMINATES THAT LOOKED LIKE AN ERODED GASKET. I NEVER CHECKED FUEL QUANTITY VISUALLY; OR OTHERWISE AT HARVARD ARPT. THE NEXT DAY I CALLED THE COMPANY THE AIRPLANE BELONGS TO; AND THEY TOLD ME THAT THEY HAD SENT A MECHANIC; AND PLT OUT TO THE ARPT TO FIX IF NECESSARY; AND FLY THE PLANE BACK. WHEN THEY GOT BACK IN LINCOLN THEY TOLD ME THAT WHEN THEY LEFT HARVARD STATE ARPT THE L TANK WAS COMPLETELY EMPTY; AND THE R TANK WAS ABOUT 3/4 FULL. MY TOTAL FLT WAS ABOUT 45 MINS LONG AND A COMANCHE BURNS ABOUT 14 GALLONS AN HR. THE COMANCHE HOLDS 60 GALLONS AND WITH 45 GALLONS UNACCOUNTED FOR; I GOT REALLY CONFUSED. IT WAS PRETTY OBVIOUS THAT I HAD FUEL STARVATION. I THINK THE L TANK BECAME EMPTY; AND THAT'S WHY THE ENG QUIT. THEN WHEN I SWITCHED IT TO THE OTHER TANK I DIDN'T GIVE IT ENOUGH TIME TO GET FUEL FROM THAT TANK TO THE ENG. THEN I SWITCHED IT BACK TO THE L TANK. THIS IS WHERE I GOT A SHORT BURST OF PWR; THEN DEAD AGAIN. THIS WOULD MAKE SENSE IF IT GOT AND AIRLOCK IN FUEL LINES. I AM ABSOLUTELY WITHOUT A DOUBT POSITIVE THAT THE TANKS WERE FULL BEFORE I TOOK-OFF OUT OF LINCOLN. I EVEN REMEMBER HAVING TO WALK BACK INSIDE THE FBO IN LINCOLN TO GET A FLASHLIGHT TO VISUALLY CHECK THE FUEL QUANTITY. THE MECHANICS FOUND NOTHING WRONG WITH THE PLANE WHEN THEY ARRIVED AT HARVARD ARPT THE NEXT DAY. NO BROKEN FUEL LINES; OR ANYTHING. STILL THOUGH NOW ONLY A DAY AFTER THE INCIDENT I DON'T KNOW WHERE THE FUEL WENT. I DIDN'T CHK THE FUEL WHEN I LANDED AT HARVARD FOR QUANTITY.