Narrative:

My aircraft has been down for maintenance and upgrades for the previous two years. I have over eighteen years' experience flying this plane. The upgrades include adding electronic flight instrument system (EFIS) displays; new electronic ignition; plenum over engine for better cooling; new cowl for better cooling; moving the fuel servo to the front of the engine for better manifold pressure.aircraft had been flown the previous day. Other than minor squawks performed well for forty five minutes where test syllabus included slow flight; stall series; landing gear actuation; cycling constant speed propeller. Aircraft flew as before and was a delight to fly.the next day; [I] preheated the engine; OAT 35F. Charged the battery. Added 15 gallons of avgas. Normal preflight; and start; noted all engine operating functions were normal. Cycled the propeller and it operated normally. Cycled the electronic ignition on and off for both systems and it operated normally. Voltage indicated normal range.on departure all systems indicated in their normal ranges and I proceeded to climb to 4;000' MSL. I established a racetrack pattern to the east of the airfield away from the normal traffic pattern. 170 kias; 25.2mp; 2500rpm; oil temp 175F. I proceeded to stay close to the airfield so that in the event of an engine failure it was an easy turn to the runway in use for landing. Approximately 17 minutes after takeoff the engine made a pop and spooled down. All main bus instruments and radios went dark. EFIS display remained working on battery back up power. I was wondering why the main battery was not powering the electrical system especially the ignition. The battery charger had been charging the battery before leaving the hangar.made an immediate 140 degree turn to the right and slowed to my optimum airspeed (106kts). Airfield was now in the middle of my windscreen and I readjusted the propeller pitch to cruise. Checklist was sitting in the right seat; I completed my power loss in flight check list and could not get engine to operate. Rechecked my descent and found that the runway center had not moved from its centered position in my windscreen. Attempted a mayday but radios were inoperative. Performed the checklist again; reset circuit breakers (circuit breaker) and made sure that the master; alternator switches were indeed on. Still no start.I realized I had the runway made so I stopped trying to trouble shoot the problem and concentrate on landing on the runway. Passing thru 1200' msl I decided to wait until 800' or so to extend the the landing gear. Still had the runway made with no problem. I had practiced this scenario three years earlier before I took the aircraft out of service for upgrades. Passing thru 750' agl the runway started to disappear beneath my nose so I lowered the gear. My rate of descent had been around 900 fpm but now increased to around 2000fpm and I now was going to land short of the runway. I had no way to raise the gear.so around 600' AGL I turned left about 40 degrees and lined up on a farmers field. Extended the flaps manually; completed the emergency checklist; shutting off the master; fuel valve off and pumped the gear pressure up. I opened the pilots gull wing door.I touched down softly on the grass; rolled out approximately 500' and when less than 15kts the aircraft left main gear encountered a muddy area and swung the aircraft approximately 30 degrees to the left. The only damage was to the right main gear; the right side brace strut broke and the gear partially collapsed; the wing settled on to the grass.secured all the switches again; grabbed the fire extinguisher and exited the aircraft. I didn't have any injuries.I have no idea what the problem is; but suspect that the battery wasn't fully charged and or the alternator quit working on climb out. Battery should have lasted 30 minutes and it only lasted 18. Also the new lithium battery indicates around 13.5 volts when operating up until itactually quits. Unlike a lead acid or agm type battery that actually shows a gradual loss of voltage you get little warning of an impending electric failure with the lithium type. In addition to that the battery protection circuit cuts off power to the plane at 11.5v; so even if you only need 6.5 volts for the electronic ignition. I had my EFIS system set to show a voltage warning at approximately 10v; so I received no warning of an impending battery or electrical system problem.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Glasair IIRG pilot reported landing in a field after experiencing inflight engine failure.

Narrative: My aircraft has been down for maintenance and upgrades for the previous two years. I have over eighteen years' experience flying this plane. The upgrades include adding Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS) displays; new electronic ignition; plenum over engine for better cooling; new cowl for better cooling; moving the fuel servo to the front of the engine for better manifold pressure.Aircraft had been flown the previous day. Other than minor squawks performed well for forty five minutes where test syllabus included slow flight; stall series; landing gear actuation; cycling constant speed propeller. Aircraft flew as before and was a delight to fly.The next day; [I] preheated the engine; OAT 35F. Charged the battery. Added 15 gallons of Avgas. Normal preflight; and start; noted all engine operating functions were normal. Cycled the propeller and it operated normally. Cycled the electronic ignition on and off for both systems and it operated normally. Voltage indicated normal range.On departure all systems indicated in their normal ranges and I proceeded to climb to 4;000' MSL. I established a racetrack pattern to the east of the airfield away from the normal traffic pattern. 170 kias; 25.2mp; 2500rpm; oil temp 175F. I proceeded to stay close to the airfield so that in the event of an engine failure it was an easy turn to the runway in use for landing. Approximately 17 minutes after takeoff the engine made a pop and spooled down. All main bus instruments and radios went dark. EFIS display remained working on battery back up power. I was wondering why the main battery was not powering the electrical system especially the ignition. The battery charger had been charging the battery before leaving the hangar.Made an immediate 140 degree turn to the right and slowed to my optimum airspeed (106kts). Airfield was now in the middle of my windscreen and I readjusted the propeller pitch to cruise. Checklist was sitting in the right seat; I completed my Power Loss IN FLIGHT check list and could not get engine to operate. Rechecked my descent and found that the runway center had not moved from its centered position in my windscreen. Attempted a mayday but radios were inoperative. Performed the checklist again; reset Circuit Breakers (CB) and made sure that the Master; Alternator switches were indeed on. Still no start.I realized I had the runway made so I stopped trying to trouble shoot the problem and concentrate on landing on the runway. Passing thru 1200' msl I decided to wait until 800' or so to extend the the landing gear. Still had the runway made with no problem. I had practiced this scenario three years earlier before I took the aircraft out of service for upgrades. Passing thru 750' agl the runway started to disappear beneath my nose so I lowered the gear. My rate of descent had been around 900 fpm but now increased to around 2000fpm and I now was going to land short of the runway. I had no way to raise the gear.So around 600' AGL I turned left about 40 degrees and lined up on a farmers field. Extended the flaps manually; completed the emergency checklist; shutting off the Master; fuel valve off and pumped the gear pressure up. I opened the pilots gull wing door.I touched down softly on the grass; rolled out approximately 500' and when less than 15kts the aircraft left main gear encountered a muddy area and swung the aircraft approximately 30 degrees to the left. The only damage was to the right main gear; the right side brace strut broke and the gear partially collapsed; the wing settled on to the grass.Secured all the switches again; grabbed the fire extinguisher and exited the aircraft. I didn't have any injuries.I have no idea what the problem is; but suspect that the battery wasn't fully charged and or the alternator quit working on climb out. Battery should have lasted 30 minutes and it only lasted 18. Also the new Lithium battery indicates around 13.5 volts when operating up until itactually quits. Unlike a lead acid or AGM type battery that actually shows a gradual loss of voltage you get little warning of an impending electric failure with the Lithium type. In addition to that the battery protection circuit cuts off power to the plane at 11.5v; so even if you only need 6.5 volts for the electronic ignition. I had my EFIS system set to show a voltage warning at approximately 10v; so I received no warning of an impending battery or electrical system problem.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.