OFF ARPT FORCED LNDG DUE TO ENG FAILURE CAUSED BY FUEL EXHAUSTION.

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ON JUL/XX/95 I DECIDED TO DO SOME SOLO PRACTICE IN THE MORNING. DURING THE PREFLT CHK; I TOOK SAMPLES FROM BOTH WING TANK SUMPS; THE FUEL STRAINER; AND THE UNDER FUSELAGE SUMP; CHKING FOR WATER AND CONTAMINATION. MY VISUAL INSPECTION OF THE FUEL TANKS SEEMED TO SHOW ABOUT 1/2 TANKS; WHICH WAS WHAT THE FUEL GAUGES HAD ALSO INDICATED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PREFLT INSPECTION. AFTER THE PREFLT; I FLEW TO DONALDSON CTR TO PRACTICE ACCURACY LNDGS. AFTER 3 PWR OFF ACCURACY LNDGS IN THE PATTERN AT DONALDSON; I DEPARTED W TO THE PRACTICE AREA. I WAS PRACTICING SOME COMMERCIAL MANEUVERS AND HAD BEGUN THE RETURN TO GREENVILLE DOWNTOWN ARPT WHEN THE ENG STARTED TO RUN A LITTLE ROUGH. I TURNED THE MAGNETO SWITCH TO THE L AND R POS TO CHK IF ONE OF THE MAGNETOS MIGHT BE GOING BAD. THE ENG WAS STILL RUNNING ROUGH SO I LEANED THE MIXTURE; THINKING THE SPARK PLUGS MAY BE FOULING. THE ENG THEN FAILED COMPLETELY AND SHORTLY CEASED WINDMILLING. I COMPLETED A MEMORIZED ENG FAILURE CHKLIST WHILE GLIDING TO THE FIELD I HAD SELECTED. AS I CONTINUED THE APCH I REVIEWED THE WRITTEN CHKLIST BUT WAS UNABLE TO EFFECT A RESTART. I CONTINUED THE APCH INTO THE FIELD AND LANDED THE AIRPLANE WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT. I WAS UNINJURED AND THE AIRPLANE PROVED TO BE UNDAMAGED IN ANY WAY. AFTER CONTACTING FLT SCHOOL OFFICIALS; I WALKED BACK TO THE AIRPLANE AND DECIDED TO CHK THE FUEL TANKS WHICH I FOUND EMPTY. THE AIRPLANE WAS DISMANTLED SO IT COULD BE REMOVED FROM THE FIELD. WHEN THE WINGS WERE REMOVED AND THEIR CONTENTS DRAINED; LESS THEN THE UNUSABLE FUEL WAS REMOVED. I BELIEVED THIS INCIDENT OCCURRED BECAUSE OF 2 PRIMARY MISTAKES ON MY PART. THE FIRST WAS WHEN I CHKED THE FUEL QUANTITY INDICATORS AND USED THAT ADMITTEDLY INACCURATE INFO TO CONFIRM WHAT I SAW VISUALLY CHKED THE TANKS. THE SECOND MISTAKE WAS THINKING I COULD ACCURATELY DETERMINE THE AMOUNT OF FUEL ON BOARD BY LOOKING INTO THE TANKS. IN RETROSPECT; I WILL NOT USE THE FUEL THE FUEL QUANTITY INDICATORS ON THIS CALIBER OF AIRPLANE TO GET ANY RELIABLE IDEAS OF THE AMOUNT ON BOARD. THOUGH I BELIEVE IT IS IMPORTANT TO VISUALLY CHK THE TANKS; I NOW KNOW THAT WITHOUT THE HELP OF A CALIBRATED DIPSTICK OR SIMILAR DEVICE; I CANNOT ACCURATELY DETERMINE THE EXACT QUANTITY EXCEPT WHEN IT IS TOPPED.