Narrative:

Planned VFR; checked with online resources planning info before leaving. Ground check indicated 7 quarts oil and a minimum of 26.6 gallons total fuel for both tanks. The left fuel gauge indicated just under 1/2 tank. (This gauge for the last 25 years only shows 3/4 when full.) the right tank indicated on the plus side of 1/2 each tank holds 24 gallons. This indicated 25 to 27 gallons from years of experience. I verified this with a fuel-flow meter that indicated 26.6 gallons. This fuel flow gauge was new. The fuel used at 2600 RPM is 8.9 P/H at 132 mph per operation manual. This plane has a new speed cowl under the bottom engine cowl that gives it at least 8 mph. Total 140 mph at 2600 RPM. Assuming only 130 mph total time required is 1 hour 36 minutes or 13.8 gallons and reserve 4.5 for a total of 18.3 gallons. Departed on both tanks reaching 1200 ft turned to left tank; continued on left tank about 55 minutes; left gauge indicated about 1/8; continued in right tank. While letting down to land at about 1500 ft MSL and about 1.5 GPS min out; suddenly lost power; adjusted full rich and throttle; fuel psi 0.0 booster pump on. At this point to use the only landing spot it was necessary to turn 90 degrees right; 45 bank nose down; went to both tanks; but pumps would not prime; could hear booster rattling; not good landing site in front; air speed 60; nose down 30 as I turned back about 160; with a 40 bank; rolled out about 20 ft made a quick flair and touched down rolled about 250 ft. Upon inspection I could not find any damage. I had pulled throttle back in case of restart pointing down that close to the ground. In this point the fuel gauge indicated that there was 3.6 gallons remaining. I did not check either tank thinking they were empty and that the gauge was wrong. However; I did not know where about 6 gallons had gone. I sent for 5 gallons which I placed in the left tank. A local game warden would not let me depart even though I was on private property with the owner's permission but without an ok from some controlling agency. I called TRACON which said they did not care as long as I was on private property. So I went to my destination and filled both tanks to the top. I put 23.5 in the left tank and 13.5 in the left. I did not do the fuel math until after talking to the FAA. I tried to determine what had happened other than I had used more fuel than estimated. The error was by running that right tank clear and dry then banking so steeply; though required for the landing; slowed the fuel pumps from priming and made it appear that both tanks were empty. In retrospect; even with adequate fuel it took about 7 seconds on flat ground to prime with the electric boost pump after being filled with air. It normally takes less than 2 seconds to prime. I pre-pressurize the system on every start up. The three new changes to the plane; with only 5 total hours running time when the fuel problem occurred confused the issue by presenting additional possibilities for failure. The new gauge had required several new hoses and fittings and rerouting others. My first thought was that some part of the mod had failed when the fuel system failed to pressurize after switching to both tanks; even after watching the entire installation operation and being satisfied with it. The possibility that the new exhaust system may slightly increased fuel usage was noted with the paperwork but the speed cowl should have more than offset this. The fuel flow gauge from best info was calibrated to show about 5% more fuel used than actual; a good safety factor until I was confident with it. When properly calibrated it should be within .0011%. The irony is that landing procedure requires fuel selector in the both position and I would have switch in the next 30 seconds anyway. Solutions: 1) do not run either tank dry unless you have adequate glide elevation. 2) when switching from possible low tank make a note of the amount of fuel you think is left in that tank. If I would have made a calculation as to the remainder I would have switched it before running the right tank out. 3) I believe that if I had to switch to the left tank only; it would have decreased the fuel pressure recovery time and I might have had a restart in time to recover.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A C177 Pilot reported his engine quit in-flight because of fuel starvation forcing an off airport landing. He had run the right tank dry and with an inaccurate left tank gauge switched back to it as he was descending and turning not giving the pump enough time to prime.

Narrative: Planned VFR; checked with online resources planning info before leaving. Ground check indicated 7 quarts oil and a minimum of 26.6 gallons total fuel for both tanks. The left fuel gauge indicated just under 1/2 tank. (This gauge for the last 25 years only shows 3/4 when full.) The right tank indicated on the plus side of 1/2 each tank holds 24 gallons. This indicated 25 to 27 gallons from years of experience. I verified this with a fuel-flow meter that indicated 26.6 gallons. This fuel flow gauge was new. The fuel used at 2600 RPM is 8.9 P/H at 132 MPH per operation manual. This plane has a new speed cowl under the bottom engine cowl that gives it at least 8 MPH. Total 140 MPH at 2600 RPM. Assuming only 130 MPH total time required is 1 hour 36 minutes or 13.8 gallons and reserve 4.5 for a total of 18.3 gallons. Departed on both tanks reaching 1200 FT turned to left tank; continued on left tank about 55 minutes; left gauge indicated about 1/8; continued in right tank. While letting down to land at about 1500 FT MSL and about 1.5 GPS min out; suddenly lost power; adjusted full rich and throttle; fuel PSI 0.0 booster pump ON. At this point to use the only landing spot it was necessary to turn 90 degrees right; 45 bank nose down; went to both tanks; but pumps would not prime; could hear booster rattling; not good landing site in front; air speed 60; nose down 30 as I turned back about 160; with a 40 bank; rolled out about 20 FT made a quick flair and touched down rolled about 250 FT. Upon inspection I could not find any damage. I had pulled throttle back in case of restart pointing down that close to the ground. In this point the fuel gauge indicated that there was 3.6 gallons remaining. I did not check either tank thinking they were empty and that the gauge was wrong. However; I did not know where about 6 gallons had gone. I sent for 5 gallons which I placed in the left tank. A local game warden would not let me depart even though I was on private property with the owner's permission but without an OK from some controlling agency. I called TRACON which said they did not care as long as I was on private property. So I went to my destination and filled both tanks to the top. I put 23.5 in the left tank and 13.5 in the left. I did not do the fuel math until after talking to the FAA. I tried to determine what had happened other than I had used more fuel than estimated. The error was by running that right tank clear and dry then banking so steeply; though required for the landing; slowed the fuel pumps from priming and made it appear that both tanks were empty. In retrospect; even with adequate fuel it took about 7 seconds on flat ground to prime with the electric boost pump after being filled with air. It normally takes less than 2 seconds to prime. I pre-pressurize the system on every start up. The three new changes to the plane; with only 5 total hours running time when the fuel problem occurred confused the issue by presenting additional possibilities for failure. The new gauge had required several new hoses and fittings and rerouting others. My first thought was that some part of the mod had failed when the fuel system failed to pressurize after switching to both tanks; even after watching the entire installation operation and being satisfied with it. The possibility that the new exhaust system may slightly increased fuel usage was noted with the paperwork but the speed cowl should have more than offset this. The fuel flow gauge from best info was calibrated to show about 5% more fuel used than actual; a good safety factor until I was confident with it. When properly calibrated it should be within .0011%. The irony is that landing procedure requires fuel selector in the both position and I would have switch in the next 30 seconds anyway. Solutions: 1) do not run either tank dry unless you have adequate glide elevation. 2) When switching from possible low tank make a note of the amount of fuel you think is left in that tank. If I would have made a calculation as to the remainder I would have switched it before running the right tank out. 3) I believe that if I had to switch to the left tank only; it would have decreased the fuel pressure recovery time and I might have had a restart in time to recover.

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.