Narrative:

I took off from pvu (provo; utah) airport. I took off on runway 13 with a left downwind departure; transponder squawking 1200 on altitude. I followed the east side of utah lake on climbout to 8;500 ft (below the 9;000 ft outer base of the slc class B airspace). I also had the DME tuned into the provo VOR/DME. The idea was to contact slc approach; ATC; pick up the clearance into the class B airspace then transition through the class B airspace to the bonneville 67 degree radial following the radial to the VOR navigating between the restricted areas to the west. Still climbing to 8;500 ft about 14 miles on the DME from the provo VOR/DME near as I can tell still clear of the class B airspace; I tried contacting ATC 3 times before I was successful. Somewhere in there thinking that I had plenty of room to the west before entering into the class B airspace; I turned to a westerly direction. On contact with ATC; after squawking the transponder frequency given; I waited then was asked to identification. I'm flying a twin engine cessna that's almost twice as fast as a single engine. I'm now either entering the class B airspace or about to. I'm talking to slc approach but unsure if I have clearance to enter class B airspace. (I have heard controllers say 'you are cleared to enter the class B airspace' but not usually.) usually I would get an acknowledgement and then a vector. I looked at my DME and it was now reading 17 miles from the provo VOR/DME. Now is where it gets confusing. Do I start turning the airplane away from the class B airspace while talking to the controller? In what direction and what is he expecting? If I make some wild turn in an unknown direction while in contact with the controller; does the situation get worse or better? Does he have me on radar or not? On reflecting back; I was stupid. I should have never let the situation get this far. The controller finally did get back to me and told me to make an immediate turn to the east. I did. At that point; there was mountainous terrain in close proximity in front of me that was higher than my flight path. This was concerning; however; the controller did vector me back to the west and asked for a direct course heading to my destination. Since I originally intended to transition to the bonneville VOR I had an idea but not an exact course heading for the controller. It took a few moments to input my destination into the GPS which I gave the controller shortly after. The controller cleared me on a direct heading. Once enroute; the controller gave me a phone number to write down so I would call him later. I did. I called the number given to me; it was slc approach. The gentleman I talked to was very nice over the phone. He mentioned 2 things that struck me. One is that I was #29 this year that had done something similar. That's one class B incursion every 3 days on the average. Second is that coming from the provo airport direction that slc approach was having difficulty making good radio contact farther than 4 miles out. Perhaps with a higher altitude that would improve; I did not ask that question. I'm not sure I have a good solution yet; other than to simply do some good flight planning before takeoff.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: VFR C310 departing from PVU entered SLC Class without ATC clearance; reporter citing aircraft performance; airspace limitations; terrain and preflight planning failures and causal factors.

Narrative: I took off from PVU (Provo; Utah) Airport. I took off on Runway 13 with a left downwind departure; transponder squawking 1200 on altitude. I followed the east side of Utah Lake on climbout to 8;500 FT (below the 9;000 FT outer base of the SLC Class B airspace). I also had the DME tuned into the Provo VOR/DME. The idea was to contact SLC Approach; ATC; pick up the clearance into the Class B airspace then transition through the Class B airspace to the Bonneville 67 degree radial following the radial to the VOR navigating between the restricted areas to the west. Still climbing to 8;500 FT about 14 miles on the DME from the Provo VOR/DME near as I can tell still clear of the Class B airspace; I tried contacting ATC 3 times before I was successful. Somewhere in there thinking that I had plenty of room to the west before entering into the Class B airspace; I turned to a westerly direction. On contact with ATC; after squawking the transponder frequency given; I waited then was asked to ID. I'm flying a twin engine Cessna that's almost twice as fast as a single engine. I'm now either entering the Class B airspace or about to. I'm talking to SLC Approach but unsure if I have clearance to enter Class B airspace. (I have heard Controllers say 'you are cleared to enter the Class B airspace' but not usually.) Usually I would get an acknowledgement and then a vector. I looked at my DME and it was now reading 17 miles from the Provo VOR/DME. Now is where it gets confusing. Do I start turning the airplane away from the Class B airspace while talking to the Controller? In what direction and what is he expecting? If I make some wild turn in an unknown direction while in contact with the Controller; does the situation get worse or better? Does he have me on radar or not? On reflecting back; I was stupid. I should have never let the situation get this far. The Controller finally did get back to me and told me to make an immediate turn to the east. I did. At that point; there was mountainous terrain in close proximity in front of me that was higher than my flight path. This was concerning; however; the Controller did vector me back to the west and asked for a direct course heading to my destination. Since I originally intended to transition to the Bonneville VOR I had an idea but not an exact course heading for the Controller. It took a few moments to input my destination into the GPS which I gave the Controller shortly after. The Controller cleared me on a direct heading. Once enroute; the Controller gave me a phone number to write down so I would call him later. I did. I called the number given to me; it was SLC Approach. The gentleman I talked to was very nice over the phone. He mentioned 2 things that struck me. One is that I was #29 this year that had done something similar. That's one Class B incursion every 3 days on the average. Second is that coming from the Provo Airport direction that SLC Approach was having difficulty making good radio contact farther than 4 miles out. Perhaps with a higher altitude that would improve; I did not ask that question. I'm not sure I have a good solution yet; other than to simply do some good flight planning before takeoff.

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.