N1837Y

The airplane sustained substantial damage during a forced landing to a cornfield after takeoff. The pilot reported that soon after takeoff from runway 17, he noticed the fuel gauge indicated less fuel on board than he expected. He attempted to return to the airport and land on runway 35. About 1/2 mile from runway 35, the engine quit. The pilot made a "Mayday" report and attempted a forced landing to the grass field adjacent to the airport. He reported that he saw a large roll of hay in his line of flight, so he executed a forced landing to a cornfield and the airplane subsequently nosed over. The pilot exited the airplane without injury.

The inspection of the airplane revealed that the left fuel tank was empty and had blue stains around the drain. The right fuel tank had only a cup of fuel. Wing tank placards indicated the unusable fuel in each wing tank was .5 gallons. The electric fuel pump contained some residual fuel, but it was not full. No fuel was in the line between the carburetor and the fuel pump. The out line of the fuel pump contained a small amount of fuel. The carburetor bowl contained about 5 to 10 drops of fuel.

Engine continuity and compression was verified. One propeller blade was bent back about 45 degrees, and the other blade was bent back about 10 degrees. The flight controls exhibited continuity. The flaps were in the up position. The power lever was found in the full forward position. The mixture and carburetor heat were found in the mid-range position.

The pilot reported that he had flown the airplane about 10 days prior to the accident flight, and that he had calculated that there was about 2 hours of fuel remaining in the aircraft. He reported that on the day of the accident flight, he did not use a dipstick to check for the amount of fuel on board the airplane. He reported that he checked the fuel gauges and they indicated there was fuel on board. He reported that he was not sure if he had visually checked inside the tanks.