Cessna 210 Centurion / Turbo Centurion 210C; 210D
Flight Crew Private; Flight Crew Instrument
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 35; Flight Crew Total 1950; Flight Crew Type 1700
Human-Machine Interface; Situational Awareness; Other / Unknown
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Inflight Event / Encounter Fuel Issue
Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance; Flight Crew Overcame Equipment Problem; General Declared Emergency
Aircraft; Procedure; Human Factors
Upon descent from 8;000 FT to assigned level of 4;000 FT my engine stopped running (at about 5;000 FT) due to fuel exhaustion. I declared an emergency with ATC and switched fuel tanks from 'RIGHT' tank to 'LEFT' tank using the boost pump switch. The engine immediately restarted. ATC was giving me vectors for an emergency landing when I notified them that I had restarted my engine and was able to continue my approach to landing. I also explained my error to the Controller and apologized for my error. (I should mention that the Controller really did a great job of immediately providing emergency support guidance). I continued with a visual approach and landed. The engine had stopped running because I had failed to manage fuel properly. When I departed; my fuel selector switch was in the 'BOTH' position. Shortly after; I switched to 'RIGHT' tank position to compensate for the fact that the plane always draws heavily off the left tank. My intent was to switch back to 'BOTH' after an hour. I failed to make the switch and exhausted the available fuel from the right tank. Total time that engine was not running was about 15 seconds. Normally; I fly with the fuel selector switch on 'BOTH' and only switch to 'RIGHT' to even the weight when the gauges indicate that the left tank is much lower in fuel than the right. This day I thought I was being proactive and then by not properly monitoring the gauges exhausted the right tank.
C210 pilot experiences engine failure at 5;000 FT due to fuel exhaustion from the right tank. After declaring an emergency and switching fuel tanks the engine restarts and the reporter continues to a normal landing.