Narrative:

Departed little rock late afternoon, 1 aboard, full tanks, INS flight plan. Flight plan route: hot springs, rich mountain, ardmore, blue ridge, blue ridge 2 arrival for rdb. Route intended to fly no and west of SIGMET area. Encountered heavy rain, turbulence, west of hot springs. Received clearance to divert north, then addition clearance direct mcalester. Assured several times that mcalester to blue ridge to rdb would be west of heavy WX. Incorrectly assumed that meant dallas would offer hospitable situation. Reached radex intersection and heard numerous air carrier's requesting diversion around cell over blue ridge, so requested vectors around that area, toward the west, then south. Somewhere, probably south of mcalester, I hit the wrong switch on the digital clock and dumped the accumulated flight time. Attempts, since, to reconstruct events suggest that I may have confused actual z-times with restarted flight time. Otherwise I cannot understand the time and fuel consumption. Arrived rdb, ILS approach runway 31. Missed the approach, so requested clearance to love field, ILS 13L. En route noticed windshield heavily steamed on inside. That may have contributed to missed approach at red bird. Also en route to love, ran out of fuel, left tank. I had told approach control I was low on fuel, but declared an emergency when 1 tank ran out. Excellent assistance by approach controller provided uneventful arrival. Conclusions: this should have been a flight of about 3.25 hours. Diverting around WX took much more time than I would have expected. Human factor (bladder) is hard to do anything about in an small aircraft and certainly contributed to the tenseness during latter stages of this flight. These were my first really low approachs under actual conditions. Whenever I have been allowed to lift the hood during training approachs, the airport is always there. On that basis, it is too easy to assume it will also be during actual conditions. When it isn't, a real lesson is learned. Finally, I was totally surprised by the heavily fogged condition of the inside of the windshield after missing the first approach. At night it is simply not obvious, but is a real factor.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: SMA ON IFR FLT ENCOUNTERS WX AND GETS INTO LOW FUEL STATE DUE AVOIDANCE. DECLARED EMERGENCY TO GET INTO ALTERNATE ARPT.

Narrative: DEPARTED LITTLE ROCK LATE AFTERNOON, 1 ABOARD, FULL TANKS, INS FLT PLAN. FLT PLAN RTE: HOT SPRINGS, RICH MOUNTAIN, ARDMORE, BLUE RIDGE, BLUE RIDGE 2 ARR FOR RDB. RTE INTENDED TO FLY NO AND W OF SIGMET AREA. ENCOUNTERED HEAVY RAIN, TURB, W OF HOT SPRINGS. RECEIVED CLRNC TO DIVERT N, THEN ADDITION CLRNC DIRECT MCALESTER. ASSURED SEVERAL TIMES THAT MCALESTER TO BLUE RIDGE TO RDB WOULD BE W OF HEAVY WX. INCORRECTLY ASSUMED THAT MEANT DALLAS WOULD OFFER HOSPITABLE SITUATION. REACHED RADEX INTXN AND HEARD NUMEROUS ACR'S REQUESTING DIVERSION AROUND CELL OVER BLUE RIDGE, SO REQUESTED VECTORS AROUND THAT AREA, TOWARD THE W, THEN S. SOMEWHERE, PROBABLY S OF MCALESTER, I HIT THE WRONG SWITCH ON THE DIGITAL CLOCK AND DUMPED THE ACCUMULATED FLT TIME. ATTEMPTS, SINCE, TO RECONSTRUCT EVENTS SUGGEST THAT I MAY HAVE CONFUSED ACTUAL Z-TIMES WITH RESTARTED FLT TIME. OTHERWISE I CANNOT UNDERSTAND THE TIME AND FUEL CONSUMPTION. ARRIVED RDB, ILS APCH RWY 31. MISSED THE APCH, SO REQUESTED CLRNC TO LOVE FIELD, ILS 13L. ENRTE NOTICED WINDSHIELD HEAVILY STEAMED ON INSIDE. THAT MAY HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO MISSED APCH AT RED BIRD. ALSO ENRTE TO LOVE, RAN OUT OF FUEL, LEFT TANK. I HAD TOLD APCH CTL I WAS LOW ON FUEL, BUT DECLARED AN EMER WHEN 1 TANK RAN OUT. EXCELLENT ASSISTANCE BY APCH CTLR PROVIDED UNEVENTFUL ARR. CONCLUSIONS: THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN A FLT OF ABOUT 3.25 HRS. DIVERTING AROUND WX TOOK MUCH MORE TIME THAN I WOULD HAVE EXPECTED. HUMAN FACTOR (BLADDER) IS HARD TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IN AN SMA AND CERTAINLY CONTRIBUTED TO THE TENSENESS DURING LATTER STAGES OF THIS FLT. THESE WERE MY FIRST REALLY LOW APCHS UNDER ACTUAL CONDITIONS. WHENEVER I HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO LIFT THE HOOD DURING TRNING APCHS, THE ARPT IS ALWAYS THERE. ON THAT BASIS, IT IS TOO EASY TO ASSUME IT WILL ALSO BE DURING ACTUAL CONDITIONS. WHEN IT ISN'T, A REAL LESSON IS LEARNED. FINALLY, I WAS TOTALLY SURPRISED BY THE HEAVILY FOGGED CONDITION OF THE INSIDE OF THE WINDSHIELD AFTER MISSING THE FIRST APCH. AT NIGHT IT IS SIMPLY NOT OBVIOUS, BUT IS A REAL FACTOR.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.