RWY INCURSION; LWOC BY A NAVION PVT PLT WHEN HIS ENG FAILS FROM FUEL STARVATION AT 3000 FT MSL; 5 NM E OF CMA; CA.

Narrative

I LEVELED OUT 3000 FT MSL TO PRACTICE NORMAL TURNS AND INTRODUCE MY PLANE TO A FELLOW PLT DURING VFR CONDITIONS. UPON LEANING THE ENG FOR CRUISE FLT; IT BEGAN TO RUN SLIGHTLY ROUGH. I ATTEMPTED TO SMOOTH OUT THE ENG BY INCREASING THE MIXTURE AND TRYING DIFFERENT PWR SETTINGS; BUT THE ENG CONTINUED TO RUN ROUGH. AT THIS POINT; I DECIDED TO TURN BACK TO THE ARPT FOR A STRAIGHT-IN APCH TO THE ACTIVE RWY 26 FROM 5 MI AT 3000 FT. I CALLED CMA TWR AND TOLD THEM MY POS AND ALT. I DID NOT DECLARE AN EMER AS THE ARPT WAS IN RANGE AND THE ENG WAS STILL OPERATING. THE TWR CLRED ME FOR A 4 MI FINAL AND I WAS TO CONFIRM WHEN I ENTERED THE 4 MI FINAL. AT THIS POINT THE ENG BEGAN LOSING PWR AS I TURNED MY HEAD AROUND IN THE COCKPIT LOOKING FOR OTHER TFC. THE MIKE CONNECTION TO MY HEADSET BECAME PARTIALLY UNPLUGGED DUE TO MY MOVEMENT. I HAD THE RWY MADE; THE ENG WAS PRODUCING NO PWR; AND I OBSERVED NO OTHER TFC CONFLICTING WITH THE APCH. I CALLED TWR TO CONFIRM 4 MI FINAL; BUT NO RESPONSE FROM THE TWR. I CALLED AGAIN; NO RESPONSE. I CALLED 3 MI FINAL AND 1 MI FINAL. AT THIS POINT I TOLD MY PAX TO CALL THE TWR ON HIS SIDE. THE TWR TOLD US TO DO A GAR. I PUSHED THE THROTTLE FULL FORWARD AND NOTHING HAPPENED. MY PAX EXPLAINED AS I TOUCHED DOWN THAT WE HAD LOST ALL PWR AND I WAS UNABLE TO XMIT. AFTER ROLLOUT; I SHUT THE ENG DOWN AND PULLED THE ACFT TO THE NEAREST TXWY. WITHIN MINS WE TOWED THE PLANE BACK TO OUR RAMP. NO DAMAGE AND NO INJURY DUE TO THE ABOVE EVENTS. THE REASON I WAS UNABLE TO FIX SUCH A SIMPLE PROB WITH THE HEADSET MIKE CONNECTION WAS THAT I DIDN'T WANT TO TAKE ANY ATTN AWAY FROM LNDG THE PLANE SAFELY. A FAULTY DIAPHRAGM IN THE CARB IS AT FAULT AND IS CURRENTLY BEING REBUILT. THE ENG TROUBLE WAS NOT NOTICED DURING RUN-UP; CLIMB; OR IN THE ARPT'S PATTERN PRIOR TO CRUISE FLT.