Narrative:

[It was my] first time at mem; at night during busy push. Advised mem ground that I was unfamiliar and needed progressive taxi. I was using an airport taxi diagram to follow directions. Mem ground asked if an intersection 35C departure was acceptable; due to the numerous inbounds; and I confirmed that it was. I taxied to 36R and held short as advised then was cleared to cross 36R on taxiway charlie and hold short of 36C for departure. Rather than completely crossing charlie and holding short I held short of charlie and when given the departure clearance from tower I turned right; on charlie; and began take-off sequence. Within 2-3 seconds of the initial take-off roll I realized the mistake as well as received a call from tower noting the mistake and I quickly stopped on charlie without hesitation. The plane had not exceeded 40 mph. There was no ground traffic in the forward vicinity. Human performance considerations: 1. My lack of experience at the airport at night combined with the high work load on ground and tower operations and the feeling that departure needed to be expedited. 2. My attempt to comply with an expedited departure clouded my concentration on common runway and taxiway markings and lighting; such as blue lighting on taxiway. 3. Also; adding to the conditions were unusual brake forces needed on the plane during taxi while turning; which further added to the cockpit stress level. 4. Bad lighting conditions within cockpit for use with charts. Airplane brake issues were squawked for maintenance by a rental company. I have since purchased a garmin 695 with safe taxi charts that show the geo-referenced location of the plane during taxi as well as being back lit for excellent night view ability. Follow up training has been scheduled with a CFI to visit class B airport and review busy taxi/ground procedures; etc.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A pilot reported becoming confused at night during a busy traffic time at MEM and attempted a taxiway takeoff before become re-oriented.

Narrative: [It was my] first time at MEM; at night during busy push. Advised MEM ground that I was unfamiliar and needed progressive taxi. I was using an airport taxi diagram to follow directions. MEM Ground asked if an intersection 35C departure was acceptable; due to the numerous inbounds; and I confirmed that it was. I taxied to 36R and held short as advised then was cleared to cross 36R on Taxiway Charlie and hold short of 36C for departure. Rather than completely crossing Charlie and holding short I held short of Charlie and when given the departure clearance from Tower I turned right; on Charlie; and began take-off sequence. Within 2-3 seconds of the initial take-off roll I realized the mistake as well as received a call from Tower noting the mistake and I quickly stopped on Charlie without hesitation. The plane had not exceeded 40 MPH. There was no ground traffic in the forward vicinity. Human performance considerations: 1. My lack of experience at the airport at night combined with the high work load on ground and tower operations and the feeling that departure needed to be expedited. 2. My attempt to comply with an expedited departure clouded my concentration on common runway and taxiway markings and lighting; such as blue lighting on taxiway. 3. Also; adding to the conditions were unusual brake forces needed on the plane during taxi while turning; which further added to the cockpit stress level. 4. Bad lighting conditions within cockpit for use with charts. Airplane brake issues were squawked for maintenance by a rental company. I have since purchased a Garmin 695 with Safe Taxi charts that show the geo-referenced location of the plane during taxi as well as being back lit for excellent night view ability. Follow up training has been scheduled with a CFI to visit Class B airport and review busy taxi/ground procedures; etc.

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.