PA28 PLT HEARS LOUD BANG AND EXPERIENCES LOSS OF ENG PWR AT CRUISE. TURNS TOWARD ARPT HE JUST PASSED.

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THE ACFT DEPARTED HYI. WX CONDITIONS WERE VFR WITH NO CEILING AND LIGHT SURFACE WINDS. HYI IS EQUIPPED WITH AWOS-3; SO I WAS ABLE TO OBTAIN AN ALTIMETER SETTING PRIOR TO DEP. 1 PAX; MY 16 YR OLD DAUGHTER; WAS ABOARD. I WAS CURRENT FOR THIS VFR NIGHT FLT. THE ACFT'S AIRWORTHINESS CERTIFICATE WAS CURRENT. THIS WAS THE ACFT'S FOURTH FLT OF THE DAY; A NIGHT VFR FLT PLANNED FOR 58 MINS. THE RTE OF FLT WAS TO BE HYI ELA AXH. THE ENG RUN-UP WAS ROUTINE; AND THE CLB TO A PLANNED CRUISING ALT OF 7500 FT MSL WAS UNEVENTFUL. OUT OF ABOUT 4500 FT I CONTACTED ZHU ON 125.65 AND REQUESTED VFR FLT FOLLOWING. I WAS GIVEN A SQUAWK CODE AND ADVISED IN RADAR CONTACT. FUEL FLOW WAS NORMAL; AT ABOUT 13.5 GPH. I WAS GIVEN A FREQ CHANGE FOR ZHU TO 119.17; AND ESTABLISHED CONTACT ON THE NEW FREQ. ABOUT 25 MINS INTO THE FLT; MY DAUGHTER COMMENTED THAT SHE THOUGHT THE ENG WAS MAKING A KNOCKING NOISE. I REMOVED MY HEADSET AND LISTENED; BUT ENG SOUNDS AND INST READINGS WERE NORMAL. USUALLY MY DAUGHTER RIDES IN THE REAR SEATS; AND I ATTRIBUTED HER COMMENTS TO THE FACT SHE WAS IN THE FRONT PAX SEAT WITHOUT A HEADSET OR EARPLUGS. AT ABOUT 27 DME W OF THE ELA VOR; THERE WAS A LOUD BANG OR EXPLOSION SOUND. I HAD NOTED AN ARPT AT ABOUT MY 8 O'CLOCK POS; AND IMMEDIATELY BEGAN TO TURN TOWARD THE ARPT'S BEACON. HAVING FLOWN THIS RTE BEFORE; I THOUGHT THE ARPT WAS AT LA GRANGE; TX. I ADVISED ZHU THAT I THOUGHT I HAD BLOWN A CYLINDER AND WAS DECLARING AN EMER. I ADVISED I WAS TURNING TOWARD THE ARPT OFF MY L WING. THE CTLR ASKED MY HDG TOWARD THE ARPT; AND I REMEMBER RESPONDING 310 DEGS. HE ADVISED IT WAS BRENHAM. I ASKED FOR THE RWY ORIENTATION AND FREQ FOR THE ARPT AND WAS ADVISED RWY 16/32 LIGHTED AND 122.9. HE THEN ADVISED I WAS 8 MI FROM THE ARPT AND COULD CHANGE TO THE ADVISORY FREQ. HE REQUESTED I CONTACT RADIO WHEN DOWN. THE ACFT WAS DEVELOPING PARTIAL PWR; AND I ELECTED TO COMMENCE MY DSCNT RATHER THAN MAINTAIN ALT. I MADE A NORMAL; ALTHOUGH HIGH; L DOWNWIND ENTRY FOR RWY 16. THE RWY LIGHTS WEREN'T ON; BUT CAME ON IMMEDIATELY UPON KEYING 122.9. I MADE ONE 360 DEG TURN AT THE APCH END OF RWY 16 AND MADE A NORMAL LNDG. I TAXIED TO THE TIEDOWN AREA WITH THE ENG IDLING ROUGH AND SHUT DOWN THE ENG. WE EXITED THE AIRPLANE NORMALLY; AND I IMMEDIATELY CALLED THE CONROE FSS ON MY CELL PHONE; AND ADVISED THEM WE WERE DOWN SAFELY AND THAT THE SIGN ON THE FUEL TANK AT THE ARPT SUGGESTED WE WEREN'T AT BRENHAM BUT AT LA GRANGE; TX. THE FSS SPECIALIST SAID THEY WERE EXPECTING MY CALL AND THAT SHE'D ADVISE ZHU THAT WE WERE DOWN. I THANKED HER FOR ATC'S ASSISTANCE AND THEN CALLED FOR GND XPORTATION ON MY OWN. I CONFIRMED WE WERE AT LA GRANGE ARPT; IDENT 3T5; BY REF TO MY CHARTS ON THE ACFT. DUE TO THE CTLR'S ASSISTANCE; I HADN'T HAD TO REF THE CHARTS DURING THE DSCNT OR LNDG. I REMOVED THE COWLING; BUT DIDN'T SEE ANY OBVIOUS SIGN OF THE PROB WITH THE ENG. AT THIS TIME; THE AIRPLANE HAS NOT YET BEEN INSPECTED BY A MECH TO DETERMINE THE PROB. ATC WAS VERY HELPFUL; ALTHOUGH IT WOULD HAVE BEEN CONFUSING TO SEARCH FOR THE CHART FOR THE WRONG ARPT (BRENHAM). BRENHAM HAS A DIFFERENT CTAF; AND HAD I GONE TO THAT CHART BASED ON THE CTLR'S ADVICE OF THE ARPT I WAS HDG FOR; I MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO ACTIVATE THE RWY LIGHTS. HOWEVER; THE CTLR MUST HAVE CORRECTLY IDENTED THE ARPT SINCE HE GAVE ME THE CORRECT FREQ. I REALLY APPRECIATE HIS HELP AND MAYBE HE CORRECTED HIS INITIAL IDENT OF THE ARPT AND I JUST DIDN'T HEAR IT.