Narrative:

I was flying from bed to lwm by pilotage. En route, I mistook a water tank not shown on charts for one that was. I made an inappropriate correction to the east thinking I was drifting too far north. Upon reaching route 93, I had not seen tew-mac airport (one of my landmarks), so I called lwm and reported my position as 'roughly over tew-mac.' by this time, I was well east of where I thought I was. I saw an airport in the distance and headed for it. At this point, I should have checked my ground references because the airport was father to my right than I had expected. With my relative lack of experience, however, I assumed that it was lawrence and headed for it. Upon entering the downwind leg, I noted the runway was 16, not 14 as I had expected. At this point, I realized what had happened, and informed lwm of my error. I then contacted the beverly tower and told them what had happened, and stated my intention to return to lawrence. This mix-up got me somewhat flustered and in my concern over getting out of beverly airspace, I lost my exact position. Being in unfamiliar airspace in a stressful situation, I had some trouble interpreting the map to get my bearing to lwm. Eventually, I obtained a VOR bearing to lwm and found myself to be north of the airport. I got confused at the indication of north, so I radioed lwm stating that I was north of lwm but unsure of my position. The lwm tower instructed me to obtain radar vectors. This occurred over haverhill, ma. After landing and taking a break at lwm, I returned to bedford. To prevent a recurrence of this incident, I cancelled my scheduled solo time until I could get dual time with my instructor to obtain further training on navigation and chart work. I also sought the counsel of the club flight safety officer.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: SPI LOST ON SOLO XCOUNTRY.

Narrative: I WAS FLYING FROM BED TO LWM BY PILOTAGE. ENRTE, I MISTOOK A WATER TANK NOT SHOWN ON CHARTS FOR ONE THAT WAS. I MADE AN INAPPROPRIATE CORRECTION TO THE E THINKING I WAS DRIFTING TOO FAR N. UPON REACHING RTE 93, I HAD NOT SEEN TEW-MAC ARPT (ONE OF MY LANDMARKS), SO I CALLED LWM AND RPTED MY POS AS 'ROUGHLY OVER TEW-MAC.' BY THIS TIME, I WAS WELL E OF WHERE I THOUGHT I WAS. I SAW AN ARPT IN THE DISTANCE AND HEADED FOR IT. AT THIS POINT, I SHOULD HAVE CHKED MY GND REFS BECAUSE THE ARPT WAS FATHER TO MY R THAN I HAD EXPECTED. WITH MY RELATIVE LACK OF EXPERIENCE, HOWEVER, I ASSUMED THAT IT WAS LAWRENCE AND HEADED FOR IT. UPON ENTERING THE DOWNWIND LEG, I NOTED THE RWY WAS 16, NOT 14 AS I HAD EXPECTED. AT THIS POINT, I REALIZED WHAT HAD HAPPENED, AND INFORMED LWM OF MY ERROR. I THEN CONTACTED THE BEVERLY TWR AND TOLD THEM WHAT HAD HAPPENED, AND STATED MY INTENTION TO RETURN TO LAWRENCE. THIS MIX-UP GOT ME SOMEWHAT FLUSTERED AND IN MY CONCERN OVER GETTING OUT OF BEVERLY AIRSPACE, I LOST MY EXACT POS. BEING IN UNFAMILIAR AIRSPACE IN A STRESSFUL SITUATION, I HAD SOME TROUBLE INTERPRETING THE MAP TO GET MY BEARING TO LWM. EVENTUALLY, I OBTAINED A VOR BEARING TO LWM AND FOUND MYSELF TO BE N OF THE ARPT. I GOT CONFUSED AT THE INDICATION OF N, SO I RADIOED LWM STATING THAT I WAS N OF LWM BUT UNSURE OF MY POS. THE LWM TWR INSTRUCTED ME TO OBTAIN RADAR VECTORS. THIS OCCURRED OVER HAVERHILL, MA. AFTER LNDG AND TAKING A BREAK AT LWM, I RETURNED TO BEDFORD. TO PREVENT A RECURRENCE OF THIS INCIDENT, I CANCELLED MY SCHEDULED SOLO TIME UNTIL I COULD GET DUAL TIME WITH MY INSTRUCTOR TO OBTAIN FURTHER TRAINING ON NAV AND CHART WORK. I ALSO SOUGHT THE COUNSEL OF THE CLUB FLT SAFETY OFFICER.

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.