Narrative:

While cruising at about 1850 feet MSL in the direction of 130 degrees magnetic; I experienced a severe vibration and a loss of engine power. It was clear to me that my engine was failing. I checked the flight instruments to ensure adequate airspeed and noted the altitude. I then used foreflight to locate the closest airfield. On foreflight; the closest air strip was almost directly opposite of my direction of flight. I made a 180 degree turn to the left and headed towards ZZZ. I could not visually locate ZZZ; and it was clear that I was running out of time; so I found a newly plowed farm field that appeared suitable for an emergency landing. I set up for a right-traffic landing pattern to land to the southeast; which was favorable in terms of surface winds. During the downwind leg; the engine noise got much louder and I heard banging sounds. I observed the pfd and noticed that the egt for cylinder 6 was cold and a warning was indicated. Just prior to the base leg; the engine seized completely and the propeller was stationary. While on final; I turned off the fuel valves. I cleared a row of large trees on the north end of the field and performed a soft-field landing. As the aircraft touched down; the drag from the dirt surface was severe and the landing roll was short. At the end of the landing roll; the aircraft rolled up on its nose; but did not flip over. It then fell back on its main landing gear.upon exiting I observed damage to the wheel fairings and the propeller. No other damage was observed.my FBO performed the retrieval. After returning the aircraft to the FBO; the assessment was as follows: damage appears on initial look to be the engine; propeller; all three wheel pants; plus various scrapes including the baggage compartment door and window. I could not see any deformation of the engine mount; firewall or nose strut. Also; did not observe any structural damage to the wings; wing attachments; wing struts or primary flight controls.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: The pilot of a light sport aircraft reported severe vibration in cruise that resulted in an off-field landing with minor airframe damage.

Narrative: While cruising at about 1850 feet MSL in the direction of 130 degrees Magnetic; I experienced a severe vibration and a loss of engine power. It was clear to me that my engine was failing. I checked the flight instruments to ensure adequate airspeed and noted the altitude. I then used Foreflight to locate the closest airfield. On Foreflight; the closest air strip was almost directly opposite of my direction of flight. I made a 180 degree turn to the left and headed towards ZZZ. I could not visually locate ZZZ; and it was clear that I was running out of time; so I found a newly plowed farm field that appeared suitable for an emergency landing. I set up for a right-traffic landing pattern to land to the southeast; which was favorable in terms of surface winds. During the downwind leg; the engine noise got much louder and I heard banging sounds. I observed the PFD and noticed that the EGT for cylinder 6 was cold and a warning was indicated. Just prior to the base leg; the engine seized completely and the propeller was stationary. While on final; I turned off the fuel valves. I cleared a row of large trees on the north end of the field and performed a soft-field landing. As the aircraft touched down; the drag from the dirt surface was severe and the landing roll was short. At the end of the landing roll; the aircraft rolled up on its nose; but did not flip over. It then fell back on its main landing gear.Upon exiting I observed damage to the wheel fairings and the propeller. No other damage was observed.My FBO performed the retrieval. After returning the aircraft to the FBO; the assessment was as follows: Damage appears on initial look to be the engine; propeller; all three wheel pants; plus various scrapes including the baggage compartment door and window. I could not see any deformation of the engine mount; firewall or nose strut. Also; did not observe any structural damage to the wings; wing attachments; wing struts or primary flight controls.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.