Flight Crew Private
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 1; Flight Crew Total 1000; Flight Crew Type 33
Situational Awareness; Time Pressure
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown; Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue
Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition
Human Factors; Procedure; Aircraft
While maneuvering at approximately 1;000 feet AGL the engine suddenly ran rough and quit. I applied full rich mixture; checked main fuel valve; mag switch; fuel boost pump and tried to restart; none of which solved the problem. Since I was almost directly over a 4 lane divided highway headed south and getting low; I lined up with southbound side and proceeded to make the landing. Highway traffic was light and there were no power lines in the area. I made a perfect landing and rolled with traffic till I reached a wide driveway and exited the highway. As I exited the aircraft I was approached by an off duty sheriff sergeant who had seen my situation and made a U turn to block traffic behind me. This prevented a traffic conflict until I was clear of the highway. [My aircraft] has folding wings; so we folded the wings; hooked it to the back of my pickup truck and towed it back to the airport; about 2 miles. Post incident analysis: (1) No damage to anything (people; aircraft or highway) (2) The cause: Fuel exhaustion in the left tank caused by a valve (designed to prevent fuel cross feed and fuel leakage when topped off) that was accidentally left in the wrong position. Fuel in right tank was prevented from being used even though it was half full. (3) The remedy: The transfer valve will be wired or taped in the open position and a checklist note added to check this item at preflight. This should preclude this from happening again. Also a low fuel warning indicator has apparently malfunctioned and will be checked out. (4) What I learned: a. Do a more thorough preflight b. don't panic; fly the aircraft.
Experimental pilot reported engine failure due to fuel mismanagement resulting in off-field landing.