At about 2230 Mountain time, the airplane landed hard after experiencing a loss of engine power while on final approach. The private pilot and his passenger were not injured; the airplane sustained substantial damage. Earlier, the pilot flew over the top of a lower overcast cloud layer and could not find an opening through which to descend. He contacted ATC and, after controllers questioned other pilots flying over Montana, they directed the pilot to an open area in the cloud layer. While the airplane was on a straight-in approach, it ran out of fuel but the pilot was able to glide to the runway without any power. During the dark night downwind landing at the unfamiliar airport, the pilot landed hard enough to bend the lower left longeron forward of the left main gear attach point, as well as the longeron cluster just forward of the tailwheel attach point.
