A C182 PLT MAKES AN EMER OFF ARPT LNDG WHEN HE LOSES PWR. 1 TANK WAS DRY WHEN THE FUEL SIPHONED OUT OF AN UNSECURED FUEL TANK CAP THAT THE PLT HAD FORGOTTEN TO REPLACE AFTER FUELING.

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ON APR/XA/98 I WAS FLYING A C182 FROM BALDWIN; WI; TO ST PAUL; MN. THE WX AT THE TIME WAS MOSTLY CLR SKIES; VISIBILITY BETTER THAN 10 SM; TEMP APPROX 70 DEGS F/21 DEGS C; WIND WAS APPROX 290-310 DEGS AT 10-15 KTS. THE LAST FLT OF THIS ACFT WAS IN OCT/97; WAS TIED OUT ALL WINTER; AND THIS WAS THE FIRST FLT OF THE PLANE IN 1998. I PREFLTED THE ACFT; 8 GALLONS OF FUEL IN THE L TANK AND APPROX 6 GALLONS OF FUEL IN THE R TANK. I ADDED 15 GALLONS OF FUEL IN THE R TANK ONLY. THE FLT TO ST PAUL FROM DEP WOULD TAKE APPROX 15 MINS. I TAXIED THE ACFT TO THE N END OF THE ARPT FOR A S TKOF. BALDWIN HAS 1 N/S GRASS RWY AND THE FUELING AREA IS LOCATED ON THE S END OF THE FIELD. DURING TAXIING; THE ENG DIED NEAR THE END OF THE FIELD. I RESTARTED IT; IT DIED AGAIN AFTER APPROX 15 SECONDS; STARTED AND RAN FOR ABOUT 10 SECONDS AND DIED AGAIN. IT APPEARED TO BE A FUEL STARVATION PROB; NO BACKFIRING; OIL PRESSURE WAS NORMAL. I HAD THE FUEL SELECTOR ON BOTH TANKS. I DRAINED A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF WATER FROM THE FUEL COLLECTION BOWL BELOW THE CARB FOR APPROX 5-6 MINS UNTIL THE FUEL WAS CLR OF WATER; RESTARTED THE ENG; PERFORMED A LONG THOROUGH RUNUP; ALSO ALLOWED THE ENG TO RUN AT 1000-1500 RPM FOR 5 MINS BEFORE TKOF. TKOF WAS UNEVENTFUL AND I MADE A R TURN TO THE W TO PROCEED TO ST PAUL; CLBED TO 4500 FT MSL. EVERYTHING WAS NORMAL UNTIL 6-7 MINS AFTER TKOF. THE ENG DIED OUT. ONCE AGAIN IT SEEMED TO BE A FUEL PROB -- NO ENG MISFIRES; OIL PRESSURE WAS NORMAL. I SET UP A GLIDE AND RECHKED THE FUEL SELECTOR POS; MIXTURE; MAGNETOS; CARB HEAT; AND PLACEMENT OF THE FUEL PRIMER. ALL OF THOSE CTLS WERE IN THE PROPER POS. I ATTEMPTED TO CHANGE THE MIXTURE CTL SETTING; BUT THAT DIDN'T HELP. I SWITCHED TANKS FROM BOTH TO THE L AS I WAS SETTING UP FOR A L-HAND PATTERN TO LAND IN A FRESHLY PLOWED FIELD THAT RAN E/W. TO SET UP THE PATTERN; I HAD TO DO A 180 DEG TURN TO THE L TO HEAD BACK E. AFTER I ROLLED OUT HDG E; THE ENG CAME BACK TO LIFE MOMENTARILY; APPROX 10 SECONDS; THEN DIED AGAIN. I SWITCHEDOVER TO THE R TANK KNOWING I HAD ADDED 15 GALLONS TO THAT SIDE BEFORE I DEPARTED. I WAS NOW ON A L DOWNWIND ABOUT TO BEGIN A L BANK TURN TO LAND TO THE W. THE ENG NEVER CAME BACK UP; PROP WINDMILLING ONLY. I MADE AN UNEVENTFUL FORCED LNDG TO THE W IN A FRESHLY PLOWED OAT FIELD; FULL FLAPS; NO DAMAGE TO THE ACFT. I WALKED TO A NEARBY FARMHOUSE AND CALLED MY MECH IN ST PAUL. I SUSPECTED BAD FUEL AND ASKED MY MECH TO BRING CONTAINERS TO DRAIN THE FUEL OUT OF THE ACFT AND FLUSH THE SYS. HE ALSO BROUGHT FUEL TO ADD AFTER THE FLUSH. WHEN HE AND THE CO-OWNER OF THE PLANE ARRIVED; WE STUCK THE MAIN TANK FUEL SUMPS. THE L TANK SHOWED GOOD FUEL; CLR OF CONTAMINANTS; BUT THE R TANK DRAINED NO FUEL. THE MECH STUCK THE SUMP AND AGAIN NO FUEL DRAINED OUT. MY PARTNER THEN CHKED THE FUEL CAP ON THE R TANK. TO MY SURPRISE; THE CAP WAS MISSING. DURING FUELING AT BALDWIN; I WAS TALKING TO THE OWNERS AND APPARENTLY FORGOT TO CAP THE FUEL TANK. IT'S HARD FOR ME TO BELIEVE; BUT THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED. WHEN THE ENG FAILED INFLT; I SUSPECTED FAULTY FUEL; WHEN IN FACT THE FUEL CAP WAS OFF AND THE FUEL QUICKLY SIPHONED OUT OF THE TANK. I LEARNED LATER THAT DURING MY TKOF; OBSERVERS AT BALDWIN SAW SOMETHING TRAILING FROM MY ACFT; SUSPECTED SMOKE; BUT IT WAS FUEL. THE ARPT IS AN UNCTLED GRASS STRIP AND I SWITCHED OVER TO A DIFFERENT VHF FREQ BEFORE THE ARPT COULD CALL ME TO ADVISE OF THE OBSERVATION. SELECTING THE L TANK ONLY ON THE FUEL SELECTOR; WE STARTED THE ENG; AFTER 3 START ATTEMPTS; DUE TO THE LINES TO THE ENG BEING DRY. WE TAXIED THE ACFT TO AN ADJACENT UNPLOWED FIELD FOR A THOROUGH PREFLT INSPECTION AND TKOF IF THE ACFT AND FIELD WERE SATISFACTORY. WE ADDED 10 GALLONS OF GAS INTO THE L TANK; AND THE MECH INSPECTED THE ACFT; NOSE AND MAIN GEAR; ENG MOUNTS; PROP -- EVERYTHING WAS FINE. THE LAND OWNER AND THE MAN WHO FARMED IT WERE ON THE SITE. ALSO; A STATE TROOPER WAS THERE AND TOOK MY NAME; ADDRESS AND ACFT N-NUMBER. THE FIELD WAS SUITABLE FOR A SAFE TKOF TO THE NW; THE PREVAILING WINDDIRECTION. PRIOR TO DEP; I PERFORMED A THOROUGH RUNUP OF THE ENG; MAGNETOS; PROP; CARB HEAT; ALLOWED THE ENG TO RUN AT 1500 RPM FOR 15 MINS. WITH THE PERMISSION OF THE STATE TROOPER; THE FARMER AND THE LAND OWNER; I PERFORMED AN UNEVENTFUL SHORT FIELD TKOF. THE REMAINING PORTION OF THE FLT WAS UNEVENTFUL AND I LANDED IN ST PAUL. THE R FUEL CAP WAS LATER FOUND NEAR THE TKOF AT BALDWIN. THE OBVIOUS CAUSE OF THIS EMER LNDG WAS MY FORGETTING TO CAP THE R TANK AFTER FUELING. I WAS DISTR DURING THE ACFT FUELING; AND ABSENTMINDEDLY DID NOT REPLACE THE CAP. A LESSON WELL LEARNED IN CHKING ALL ASPECTS OF THE ACFT BEFORE TKOF.