PLT OF AN SMA SEL WAS FORCED TO LAND OFF ARPT WHEN THE ENG QUIT DUE TO FUEL STARVATION.

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MYSELF AND MY WIFE; WHO IS ALSO A PVT PLT; AND 2 FRIENDS WERE PLANNING A WKEND VFR TRIP FROM LAWRENCEVILLE; GA; TO GULFPORT; MS. UNDER NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES WE WOULD HAVE FLOWN A CLUB CESSNA 172XP WHICH HAS 66 GALLONS OF USABLE FUEL CAPACITY. ON THIS PARTICULAR SATURDAY; THE CLUB PLANE HAD ALREADY BEEN RESERVED BY ANOTHER MEMBER SO WE OPTED TO RENT A SIMILAR 172XP FROM OUR LCL FLT SCHOOL. AFTER COMPLETING THE RENTAL AGREEMENT; WE WERE INFORMED BY THE SCHOOL'S OWNER; AND BY MY INSTRUCTOR; THAT THE RENTAL 172XP HAD 66 GALLONS OF USABLE FUEL CAPACITY AND THAT IT HAD BEEN FLOWN FOR 1.2 HRS SINCE BEING REFUELED. BASED ON MY CALCULATED TIME ENRTE OF 3.8 HRS; A VISUAL INSPECTION OF THE FUEL IN THE TANKS; AND USING AN AVERAGE FUEL BURN OF 10 GALLONS PER HR CRUISE; I DETERMINED THAT THERE WAS SUFFICIENT FUEL TO COMPLETE THE FLT WITH AMPLE RESERVE.APPROX 40 MI FROM GULFPORT-BILOXI REGIONAL ARPT; I STARTED A SLOW DSCNT FROM 8500 FT; LEVELING AT APPROX 2000 FT 12 MI OUT. I HAD BEEN UTILIZING FLT FOLLOWING FROM MOBILE AND BY THEN GULFPORT APCH SO I ALREADY HAD MY XPONDER TUNED TO AN APPROPRIATE UNIQUE SQUAWK CODE. WITH THE ARPT IN SIGHT AND AN INDICATION OF 1/8 TANK STILL SHOWN ON THE L FUEL GAUGE; THE ENG QUIT. I IMMEDIATELY FOUND THE PROPER GS OF 70 KTS AND LOCATED A FIELD FOR AN EMER LNDG. I DECLARED AN EMER AT XX46 PM LCL TIME AND FOLLOWED THE EMER PROCS THAT I HAD BEEN TAUGHT THROUGH FLT TRAINING. I VERIFIED EVERY SETTING IN THE COCKPIT TWICE AND PREPARED FOR LNDG. AFTER COMPLETION OF THE EMER PROCS; WE LOCATED A ROAD MORE SUITABLE FOR A FORCED LNDG AND TURNED THE ACFT IN THE PROPER DIRECTION. CLRING A PWR LINE BY 20 FT; AND LNDG UNDER 2 ADDITIONAL ONES; I WAS DOWN ON THE ROAD'S CTRLINE WITH EMER VEHICLES VISIBLE JUST A SHORT DISTANCE AHEAD. I APPLIED AS MUCH BRAKING AS COULD SAFELY BE DONE TO BRING THE PLANE TO A QUICK AND FINAL STOP. FORTUNATELY WE WERE ABLE TO WALK AWAY FROM THIS INCIDENT WITH ONLY FRAZZLED NERVES AND AN EDUCATION. UPON CLOSER INVESTIGATION; IT WAS FOUND THAT THE ACFT HAD ONLY A 49 GALLON USABLE FUEL CAPACITY WHICH WAS APPROPRIATELY LABELED ON THE FUEL SELECTOR VALVE. THE MANY LESSONS THAT I HAVE LEARNED WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN. I WILL NEVER AGAIN MAKE OR TAKE ANY ASSUMPTIONS OFF THE GND!