Narrative:

After flying along for a bit, it slowly became obvious that I was totally lost. I had been navigating partly off the hya and bos VOR's, and partly pilotage. I lost signal of bos VOR and became suspicious, but became even more confused because I was looking at the north half of the ny sectional when I was actually slightly onto the south half. This resulted in the misident of several lakes and hwys, and I became incorrectly convinced that I knew where I was. Eventually, I decided to believe my VOR's, but this was also hampered by the fact that I was right on the edge of the sectional. The problem arose because of: sloppy flight planning, aided by the fact that the flight crossed the sectional edge at only a small angle; inadequate attention to correcting for wind drift; my being distracted by trying to use an ADF that intermittently fails; and the landmarks on the ground, which couldn't match the ones on the map, because I was on the wrong side of the map with only a 5 mi position error. Intended flight was hya 306 degree right to intercept bos 236 degree right, then fly inbound toward bos until owd appears. The actual flight probably went over fall river, ma, then northwest to hopedale, ma, then direct to owd. I'd happily shrink everything on a sectional by 3% in exchange for another 1/2' of overlap. Alternatively, massive overlap like low altitude IFR charts might be nice.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: GA SMA TRACK HEADING DEVIATION WHEN THE PLT FLEW OFF THE EDGE OF THE SECTIONAL CHART AND COULD NOT IDENTIFY ANY LANDMARKS.

Narrative: AFTER FLYING ALONG FOR A BIT, IT SLOWLY BECAME OBVIOUS THAT I WAS TOTALLY LOST. I HAD BEEN NAVIGATING PARTLY OFF THE HYA AND BOS VOR'S, AND PARTLY PILOTAGE. I LOST SIGNAL OF BOS VOR AND BECAME SUSPICIOUS, BUT BECAME EVEN MORE CONFUSED BECAUSE I WAS LOOKING AT THE N HALF OF THE NY SECTIONAL WHEN I WAS ACTUALLY SLIGHTLY ONTO THE S HALF. THIS RESULTED IN THE MISIDENT OF SEVERAL LAKES AND HWYS, AND I BECAME INCORRECTLY CONVINCED THAT I KNEW WHERE I WAS. EVENTUALLY, I DECIDED TO BELIEVE MY VOR'S, BUT THIS WAS ALSO HAMPERED BY THE FACT THAT I WAS RIGHT ON THE EDGE OF THE SECTIONAL. THE PROB AROSE BECAUSE OF: SLOPPY FLT PLANNING, AIDED BY THE FACT THAT THE FLT CROSSED THE SECTIONAL EDGE AT ONLY A SMALL ANGLE; INADEQUATE ATTN TO CORRECTING FOR WIND DRIFT; MY BEING DISTRACTED BY TRYING TO USE AN ADF THAT INTERMITTENTLY FAILS; AND THE LANDMARKS ON THE GND, WHICH COULDN'T MATCH THE ONES ON THE MAP, BECAUSE I WAS ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE MAP WITH ONLY A 5 MI POS ERROR. INTENDED FLT WAS HYA 306 DEG R TO INTERCEPT BOS 236 DEG R, THEN FLY INBND TOWARD BOS UNTIL OWD APPEARS. THE ACTUAL FLT PROBABLY WENT OVER FALL RIVER, MA, THEN NW TO HOPEDALE, MA, THEN DIRECT TO OWD. I'D HAPPILY SHRINK EVERYTHING ON A SECTIONAL BY 3% IN EXCHANGE FOR ANOTHER 1/2' OF OVERLAP. ALTERNATIVELY, MASSIVE OVERLAP LIKE LOW ALT IFR CHARTS MIGHT BE NICE.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.