N1938E

On September 28, 2005, at 1830 Pacific daylight time, an Aeronca 7AC airplane, N1938E, nosed over in a field near Snelling, California, during a forced landing following a loss of engine power. The private pilot, who was the sole occupant, was not injured, and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The airplane was registered to, and operated by, the pilot under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a flight plan had not been filed for the local area flight, which originated from Oakdale, California, around 1700.

According to the pilot's written statement, he was flying the single engine airplane around 1,000 feet above ground level (agl) when the "engine stopped." The pilot elected to direct the airplane toward a plowed field for the forced landing. He attempted to align the landing gear with the plowed rows of dirt, but ran out of altitude. The airplane touched down in the field and impacted the plowed rows at a 45-degree angle. The airplane rolled about 60 feet then nosed over onto its back. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing, wing strut, rudder, and propeller.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector who responded to the accident site, the pilot informed him that the engine kept running, but would not produce full power with throttle movement. He was not sure if it ever completely quit. The pilot also informed the FAA inspector that the airplane utilized a 13-gallon fuel tank, and that he had mixed about 5 gallons of 100 low-lead aviation gasoline that he had left in his fuel tank, with about 8 gallons of 80 octane fuel that he had in a storage can for 6-8 months.

The FAA inspector was able to drain about 2 gallons of fuel from the tanks, but did indicate that they had been leaking. He said that he obtained a fuel sample, which was yellow in color. He could find no other anomalies with the airplane or engine after righting the airplane.