Narrative:

I was 40 minutes into the flight when the engine started cutting out. I was flying on the left tank which on takeoff had 5 gallons; the right tank had 15 gallons. I switched to the right tank and the engine continued to cut out and finally stopped. I switched on the electric booster fuel pump and tried to restart the engine; with no success. I initiated emergency procedures and switched the fuel selector between tanks. I was flying with a companion and we were communicating on 127.475. I stayed on this frequency to communicate with him and selected 7700 on the transponder. The GPS showed ZZZ1 to be the nearest airfield. I trimmed the aircraft for 70 KTS and headed for ZZZ1. There was a 15 mph headwind on the heading to ZZZ1 and I realized that making ZZZ1 was going to be marginal. I decided to select alternative landing options. There were several country roads with long straight sections. I chose the one with least traffic and set up landing procedures. The landing was successful and a non incident rollout. I was near an intersection and pushed the aircraft off the road. An officer eventually arrived and he was in communication with the FAA and he told me not to touch the aircraft until the FAA arrived. After about 2 hours waiting; he told me the FAA was not coming but he was to take all details and photograph all relevant documents and the aircraft to send to the FAA. During this time some local crop duster pilots had stopped to see if they could help. They went to collect a trailer to tow me to their operating airstrip about 4 miles away. The officer agreed to escort us to the airstrip. At the airstrip; engine cowlings were removed to check fuel flow to the gascolator. The fuel was now flowing from the right tank. 5 gallons of fuel was added to the left tank which was empty and fuel flow checked at the gascolator. The fuel flow was ok. The nearest airfield with gas pumps was ZZZ2; about 18 miles away. After an engine run-up check; I took off and flew ZZZ2 using the left tank only. At ZZZ1 I put 15 gallons in the left tank and flew to my destination; flying on the left tank only. I landed at my destination with no further problems. The next action is a checkout of the fuel system.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Experimental Long-EZ pilot executed an off airport landing after running a fuel tank dry and an unsuccessful attempt at switching fuel tanks.

Narrative: I was 40 minutes into the flight when the engine started cutting out. I was flying on the left tank which on takeoff had 5 gallons; the right tank had 15 gallons. I switched to the right tank and the engine continued to cut out and finally stopped. I switched on the electric booster fuel pump and tried to restart the engine; with no success. I initiated emergency procedures and switched the fuel selector between tanks. I was flying with a companion and we were communicating on 127.475. I stayed on this frequency to communicate with him and selected 7700 on the transponder. The GPS showed ZZZ1 to be the nearest airfield. I trimmed the aircraft for 70 KTS and headed for ZZZ1. There was a 15 MPH headwind on the heading to ZZZ1 and I realized that making ZZZ1 was going to be marginal. I decided to select alternative landing options. There were several country roads with long straight sections. I chose the one with least traffic and set up landing procedures. The landing was successful and a non incident rollout. I was near an intersection and pushed the aircraft off the road. An officer eventually arrived and he was in communication with the FAA and he told me not to touch the aircraft until the FAA arrived. After about 2 hours waiting; he told me the FAA was not coming but he was to take all details and photograph all relevant documents and the aircraft to send to the FAA. During this time some local crop duster pilots had stopped to see if they could help. They went to collect a trailer to tow me to their operating airstrip about 4 miles away. The officer agreed to escort us to the airstrip. At the airstrip; engine cowlings were removed to check fuel flow to the gascolator. The fuel was now flowing from the right tank. 5 gallons of fuel was added to the left tank which was empty and fuel flow checked at the gascolator. The fuel flow was OK. The nearest airfield with gas pumps was ZZZ2; about 18 miles away. After an engine run-up check; I took off and flew ZZZ2 using the left tank only. At ZZZ1 I put 15 gallons in the left tank and flew to my destination; flying on the left tank only. I landed at my destination with no further problems. The next action is a checkout of the fuel system.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.