EXTRA 300 PILOT REPORTS SUCCESSFUL OFF ARPT LANDING DUE TO FUEL STARVATION AND INACCURATE FUEL GAGES.

Narrative

ON ARR OF THE PREVIOUS FLT; I EVALUATED THE FUEL LOAD FOR THE NEXT FLT. THE WING TANKS INDICATED 1/8 AND THE FUSELAGE TANK INDICATED FULL. NOTE: THE WING TANKS GRAVITY FEED INTO THE FUSELAGE SO WHEN THE WING TANKS ARE EMPTY; THE FUSELAGE TANK BEGINS DEPLETING. SINCE THE FLT WAS TO BE AEROBATIC; THE WING TANKS CANNOT CONTAIN ANY FUEL. THE INDICATED QUANTITY WAS 'THE PERFECT LOAD' FOR AN AEROBATIC FLT FROM THE FIELD TO THE AEROBATIC AREA. MY PAX ENTERED THE PLANE AND WE DEPARTED TO THE AEROBATIC AREA. DURING THE AEROBATIC SESSION; MY PAX ASKED; 'HOW IS THE FUEL?' I REPLIED 'FUEL IS GOOD.' AFTER 5-7 MINS OF AEROBATICS; WE HEADED BACK TO THE FIELD. DURING THE RETURN; THE FUEL GAUGES WERE STILL INDICATING APPROX 1/16 FULL WINGS AND FULL FUSELAGE. THIS DID NOT SEEM ALARMING SINCE GAUGES READ DIFFERENTLY IN DIFFERENT ALTS. ABOUT 12 NM NW OF THE FIELD; THE ENG QUIT. I ASSUMED THE ENG QUIT DUE TO THE MIXTURE BEING TOO LEAN. I CHKED AND IT WAS PROPERLY SET. I PUSHED IT TO FULL RICH WITH NO RESPONSE. I MOVED THE THROTTLE WITH NO RESPONSE. I DID AN EMER LNDG IN A FIELD WITH NO INJURIES OR DAMAGE TO THE AIRPLANE. WHILE ON THE GND; I TURNED THE MASTER SWITCH ON 5-8 TIMES TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE CHP ACFT. EACH TIME; THE FUSELAGE TANK INDICATED FULL. I DRAINED THE UNUSABLE FUEL OUT OF THE AIRPLANE TO VERIFY THAT IT WAS A FUEL STARVATION PROB. I PUT 10 GALS OF FUEL IN THE AIRPLANE AND FLEW IT BACK. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS: 1) NEW AIRPLANE. UNFAMILIAR WITH WING TANK NOT INDICATING ZERO. 2) HAD A DIPSTICK BUT HAD NOT CALIBRATED IT YET. SHOULD HAVE CALIBRATED IT SINCE I WAS UNFAMILIAR WITH THE FUEL GAUGING SYS. 3) SHOULD HAVE MORE CLOSELY CALCULATED FUEL QUANTITY DESPITE WHAT THE GAUGES INDICATED. CORRECTIVE ACTIONS: 1) CALIBRATE DIPSTICK. 2) TAKE OFF WITH MORE FUEL EVEN THOUGH I WILL HAVE TO FLY AWHILE TO BURN DOWN TO AEROBATIC WT. 3) DON'T BELIEVE GAUGES. 4) PLACE RED GAUGE MARKING TAPE ON WING GAUGES TO SHOW ACTUAL ZERO UNTIL QUANTITY INDICATOR CAN BE CALIBRATED.