SPI BECOMES DISORIENTED IN HAZY CONDITIONS. PENETRATES TCA; NEEDS FLT ASSIST.

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I WAS ON THE SECOND LEG OF MY SECOND SOLO XCOUNTRY FLT FROM BANNING; CA TO PALOMAR; CA. I HAD REPLOTTED MY COURSE IN BANNING AFTER EXPERIENCING VISIBILITY PROBLEMS IN THE E BASIN NEAR THE HOMELAND VOR AND MANY RADIALS INOP AT THIS LOCATION. INSTEAD OF TRACKING RADIALS AS I ORIGINALLY PLANNED; I FLEW A HDG TO INTERCEPT THE FREEWAY WHICH I COULD FOLLOW TO PALOMAR. WHETHER A RESULT OF GETTING OFF COURSE OR FROM POOR VISIBILITY; I MISSED MY FIRST LANDMARK; A 'Y' INTXN OF 2 MAJOR FREEWAYS. I BECAME DISORIENTED WITH TIME AS THIS INTXN WAS A POINT OF CHANGING COURSE AND RESTARTING MY TIME. IN REF TO THE TIME I FILED IN MY FLT PLAN; I FIGURED I SHOULD BE CLOSE TO PALOMAR. I REALIZED THAT I HAD A PROBLEM WHEN I SAW A VERY LARGE 3 RWY ARPT. IMMEDIATELY I CONTACTED SAN DIEGO APCH AND ANNOUNCED THAT I WAS A STUDENT PLT HDG FOR PALOMAR ARPT. I EXPLAINED THAT I DID NOT KNOW WHERE I WAS AND ASKED FOR ASSISTANCE TO PALOMAR. THEY GAVE ME A NORTHERLY HDG AND HELPED ME TO PALOMAR. I BELIEVE I MAY HAVE VIOLATED TCA AIRSPACE DURING MY FLT; ALTHOUGH I MAY HAVE BEEN IN THE VFR CORRIDOR WHEN I CONTACTED APCH. I HAVE SINCE THOROUGHLY REVIEWED MY FLT PLANS WITH MY INSTRUCTOR AND FEEL THAT SEVERAL FACTORS CONTRIBUTED TO MY TROUBLE: 5 MI VISIBILITY WAS LEGAL BUT MY COMFORT ZONE AND SLANT RANGE VISIBILITY ARE MORE IMPORTANT FACTORS WHEN DECIDING WHETHER TO FLY. PLOTTING MY COURSE ON A SECTIONAL CHART KEPT ME FROM HAVING TO SWITCH CHARTS MID FLT BUT THIS CONVENIENCE DID NOT MAKE UP FOR THE LOSS OF DETAIL. REPLANNING MY COURSE DURING TRAVEL NEEDS TO BE AS THOROUGH AS PREFLT PLANNING. IF I HAD PLOTTED RADIALS TO INTERCEPT FROM OCEANSIDE I WOULD NOT HAVE PASSED PALOMAR. GETTING LOST WAS NOT A PLEASANT EXPERIENCE; BUT I AM SURE I WON'T REPEAT THESE SAME MISTAKES. 2 POSITIVE ASPECTS OF THIS FLT ARE THE CONFIDENCE I DEVELOPED WITH MY PHYSICAL FLYING SKILLS EVEN THOUGH NAV DIFFICULTIES AND THE NEW PERCEPTION I HAVE ABOUT APCH CTL. THEY WERE VERY HELPFUL; NOT AUTOMATIC AND UNAPCHABLE AS I HAVE EXPERIENCED DURING ROUTINE FLTS IN THE ORANGE COUNTY AREA.