Narrative:

Safe off-airport landing in a field; it appears that the cause was a broken fuel line. I now see that the problem initially started on the previous flight; when I saw that the cork-float fuel gauge on the ercoupe's header tank was riding low. I made 2 precautionary stops on that previous flight on the way to the airshow to check that there was indeed fuel in the header tank; and to top off the wing tanks. At the first of those stops; I also asked at the nearest FBO for a local a&P to look into the header tank and double-check my judgment. We both saw fuel in it; and the wing tanks appeared to take a normal amount of fuel. At his suggestion; I also checked the vent holes on the fuel caps; and they were clear. Neither he nor I could think of any answer consistent with what we saw; except 'cork--float is saturating.' I still made a second precautionary stop; and found the same conditions; and topped-off the wing tanks a second time. The third leg was 2.3 hours and uneventful; although the cork went a little lower still; consistent in appearance with the cork saturating. Upon landing; I refueled again; but when I went to taxi to parking the starter wire broke. So I spent much of the next day at the airshow looking for an a&P to replace the starter wire and to look at the cork float; a gentleman from the local FBO said he'd help with both problems. He; too; concluded that the cork had saturated; he took it to try drying it and re-coated it. The next day; he replaced the starter wire; gave me the cork-float gauge back; then left. When I put the cork-float back in; it was still low; so I phoned him; and he said it must still be saturated; but I asked to give me someone else at the field who could look at it for me. The man he suggested was busy; so I went to the head of the whole airshow; and explained the problem. He got me a retired a&P; mr. X to come help me. I asked mr. X to stand on the wing and look into the header tank while I ran the engine to confirm that there was indeed fuel flowing into the header tank; and he said he saw the fuel moving and saw bubbles and concluded the fuel pump was working; and we believed the cork must be saturated. I took off in the belief that the fuel system was okay but the cork-float was still saturated. (It now appears that there must have been a slow leak in the line that draws fuel from the wing tanks to the fuel pump and then to the header tank.) it now appears that on the flight back south; the fuel line then broke completely; and I lost power. I did a soft-field landing and landed safely with no damage and no injuries; parallel to the furrows in a recently-plowed field next to the highway.judgments: I made judgments based upon insufficient knowledge of the mechanical components of my plane; and in too much reliance upon the discernment of the 3 professionals I asked for help. (When I asked; 'what else could it be?' no one said 'check your fuel lines!' and I didn't know any better -- but I should! I have learned from this that flying an antique requires more mechanical knowledge than I possess; and I am setting out to remedy that.) contributing factors included the lack of a back--up cork--bobber or other device in the plane; to measure the fuel in the header tank and serve as a double--check on a cork that appeared to be saturating. It was a mistake to rely upon mechanics who; while they were professionals and looked at the plane; they were not fully focused on figuring out what was going on. A contributing human factor was wishful thinking on my part; both that professionals have all the answers and that everything would be ok. After the landing; I reached a fellow--ercouper based nearby; who came out to the field; rounded up several others; including a pilot-a&P; and they helped me turn the plane around and pull it off the plowed ground onto a dirt road. The local pilot-a&P then checked the plane over; and he and the other ercouper took fuel out of the wing tanks and filled the header tank; and determined that it could be flown off the nearby paved road. The local sheriff was contacted to briefly stop traffic; which he did; and within less than 2 minutes; the local pilot-a&P taxied and successfully took off from the road and flew it to the local airport. (Once again; I relied upon the a&P to determine safety.) first thing next morning; the cowl was opened again and this time it was obvious to all that the fuel line had severed completely. The mechanic and the ercouper advised me that the fuel lines in my plane were too long and should not be hanging so low (broken ends were resting on the exhaust!) also [they said] that my home mechanics had failed to put fire sleeve on the lines; or use adel clamps to hold them up. I've had 2 different mechanics at 2 fields do the annuals since purchasing this plane; plus at least 3 other mechanics do work under that side of the cowl; and no one ever even mentioned fire sleeve to me! Clearly; I need to learn more about mechanical maintenance; and should no longer just rely on professional's knowledge and judgments. I feel embarrassingly ignorant; but perhaps that is the beginning of wisdom?

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Ercoupe 415-c pilot learned that even professional mechanics may not have all the answers when diagnosing problems with antique aircraft. A broken fuel line resulted in an off airport landing.

Narrative: Safe off-airport landing in a field; it appears that the cause was a broken fuel line. I now see that the problem initially started on the previous flight; when I saw that the cork-float fuel gauge on the Ercoupe's header tank was riding low. I made 2 precautionary stops on that previous flight on the way to the airshow to check that there was indeed fuel in the header tank; and to top off the wing tanks. At the first of those stops; I also asked at the nearest FBO for a local A&P to look into the header tank and double-check my judgment. We both saw fuel in it; and the wing tanks appeared to take a normal amount of fuel. At his suggestion; I also checked the vent holes on the fuel caps; and they were clear. Neither he nor I could think of any answer consistent with what we saw; except 'cork--float is saturating.' I still made a second precautionary stop; and found the same conditions; and topped-off the wing tanks a second time. The third leg was 2.3 hours and uneventful; although the cork went a little lower still; consistent in appearance with the cork saturating. Upon landing; I refueled again; but when I went to taxi to parking the starter wire broke. So I spent much of the next day at the airshow looking for an A&P to replace the starter wire and to look at the cork float; a gentleman from the local FBO said he'd help with both problems. He; too; concluded that the cork had saturated; he took it to try drying it and re-coated it. The next day; he replaced the starter wire; gave me the cork-float gauge back; then left. When I put the cork-float back in; it was still low; so I phoned him; and he said it must still be saturated; but I asked to give me someone else at the field who could look at it for me. The man he suggested was busy; so I went to the head of the whole airshow; and explained the problem. He got me a retired A&P; Mr. X to come help me. I asked Mr. X to stand on the wing and look into the header tank while I ran the engine to confirm that there was indeed fuel flowing into the header tank; and he said he saw the fuel moving and saw bubbles and concluded the fuel pump was working; and we believed the cork must be saturated. I took off in the belief that the fuel system was okay but the cork-float was still saturated. (It now appears that there must have been a slow leak in the line that draws fuel from the wing tanks to the fuel pump and then to the header tank.) It now appears that on the flight back south; the fuel line then broke completely; and I lost power. I did a soft-field landing and landed safely with no damage and no injuries; parallel to the furrows in a recently-plowed field next to the Highway.Judgments: I made judgments based upon insufficient knowledge of the mechanical components of my plane; and in too much reliance upon the discernment of the 3 professionals I asked for help. (When I asked; 'what else could it be?' NO ONE said 'Check your fuel lines!' and I didn't know any better -- but I should! I have learned from this that flying an antique requires more mechanical knowledge than I possess; and I am setting out to remedy that.) Contributing factors included the lack of a back--up cork--bobber or other device in the plane; to measure the fuel in the header tank and serve as a double--check on a cork that appeared to be saturating. It was a mistake to rely upon mechanics who; while they were professionals and looked at the plane; they were not fully focused on figuring out what was going on. A contributing human factor was wishful thinking on my part; both that professionals have all the answers and that everything would be ok. After the landing; I reached a fellow--Ercouper based nearby; who came out to the field; rounded up several others; including a pilot-A&P; and they helped me turn the plane around and pull it off the plowed ground onto a dirt road. The local pilot-A&P then checked the plane over; and he and the other Ercouper took fuel out of the wing tanks and filled the header tank; and determined that it could be flown off the nearby paved road. The local sheriff was contacted to briefly stop traffic; which he did; and within less than 2 minutes; the local pilot-A&P taxied and successfully took off from the road and flew it to the local airport. (Once again; I relied upon the A&P to determine safety.) First thing next morning; the cowl was opened again and this time it was obvious to all that the fuel line had severed completely. The mechanic and the Ercouper advised me that the fuel lines in my plane were too long and should not be hanging so low (broken ends were resting on the exhaust!) Also [they said] that my home mechanics had failed to put fire sleeve on the lines; or use Adel clamps to hold them up. I've had 2 different mechanics at 2 fields do the annuals since purchasing this plane; plus at least 3 other mechanics do work under that side of the cowl; and NO ONE ever even mentioned fire sleeve to me! Clearly; I need to learn more about mechanical maintenance; and should no longer just rely on professional's knowledge and judgments. I feel embarrassingly ignorant; but perhaps that is the beginning of wisdom?

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.