20190504003919A

The aircraft departed bartow municipal airport (kbow) and proceeded south to normal practice area. Performed steep turns, slow flight and power-off stalls for 40 minutes. The aircraft proceeded north for approach into kbow. During decent from 3,500 feet to 2,200 feet the co-pilot switched on the fuel selector from the left fuel tank to the right fuel tank. The right fuel tank had more fuel for landing. About two minutes later the pilot noticed the engine started to sputter and reduction in power. The pilot turned the fuel pump on and the co-pilot switched back to the left fuel tank using the fuel selector. The engine sputtered again as the pilot turned to Winter Haven airport (kgif). The pilot deployed the landing gear to make an emergency landing at kgif. The pilot then realized the aircraft did not have enough altitude to make the airport kgif. The pilot made the decision to land in a grass field about one mile from kgif. The pilot pulled the mixture lever, propeller, and throttle to idle. The pilot added flaps to slow down. The engine was sputtering and had reduced power on landing. The aircraft had flown for 40 minutes prior with no issues. The aircraft had about 50 gallons (25 gallons left and right tank) of fuel prior to take-off. During the landing in the bumpy grass field the left landing punctured a hole in the left wing causing substantial damage to the left wing making this an accident. This was the only damage to the aircraft. The aircraft wings were removed for transportation and recovery. The aircraft fuel was removed from the left and right wing. No injuries reported by pilot and co-pilot. The cause of the accident is full starvation resulting in substantial damage to the left wing. The fuel selector knob was in the down position when the pilots left the aircraft. The down position is not the ?off? Position on the fuel selector.