STUDENT PLT ON A SOLO XCOUNTRY BECAME LOST AND INADVERTENTLY FLEW INTO AN ARSA (CLASS C AIRSPACE).

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THIS IS A SUMMARY OF MY ANALYSIS OF THE EVENTS THAT LED TO THE AIRSPACE VIOLATION OF THE CLASS C AIRSPACE AT THE TOLEDO EXPRESS ARPT ON OCT/XX/93. THIS VIOLATION OCCURRED WHILE I; BEING STUDENT PLT; BECAME LOST ON A XCOUNTRY FLT. THE CAUSE OF MY BECOMING LOST WAS A COMBINATION OF EVENTS THAT WERE AGGRAVATED BY MODERATE TO SEVERE TURBULENT WX CONDITIONS. I FLEW OVER THE ARPT AT WAUSON; BUT COULD NOT POSITIVELY IDENT IT AS MY DEST AND PROCEEDED TO FLY S TO VIEW THE NAME ON THE CITY WATER TWR. THAT TURNED OUT TO BE WAUSON WHICH I COULD NOT READILY LOCATE ON MY MICHIGAN SECTIONAL MAP. THE TURB INHIBITED MY ABILITY TO THOROUGHLY READ THE MAP AS WELL AS I SHOULD HAVE. WAUSON WAS ON IT; BUT I DID NOT FIND IT. IT HAD NOT OCCURRED TO ME THAT I WAS REALLY S OF MY DEST AND ACTUALLY IN OHIO. I THOUGHT I WAS STILL N OF ADRIAN; MI. I THEN TURNED E; FLYING AT ABOUT 2000 FT ALT TO TRY TO IDENT THE WATER TWR ON THE NEXT SMALL TOWN. I TRIED TO CALL ADRIAN UNICOM ON 122.8 MHZ BUT GOT NO ANSWER. IT WAS AT ABOUT THIS TIME THAT I APPARENTLY LOST THE SIGNAL FROM THE JACKSON VOR. IN HINDSIGHT; I REALIZE THAT I HAD PROBABLY GOTTEN TOO FAR AWAY AT TOO LOW OF AN ALT TO EFFECTIVELY RECEIVE THE VOR. AT THIS TIME I ATTEMPTED TO CONTACT LANSING RADIO FLT SVC ON FREQ 122.2 MHZ. I GOT NO ANSWER. I DID NOT REALIZE THAT I SHOULD HAVE BEEN CALLING FLT SVC IN OHIO; OR BETTER YET JUST FLT SVC. I SHOULD HAVE ALSO TRIED FREQ 122.0 BUT DID NOT. I DID TRY TO CONTACT ADRIAN UNICOM ON 122.8 MHZ; BUT NO ONE ANSWERED. ABOUT THIS TIME I NOTICED A LARGE ARPT TO THE E ABOUT 7 MI AND SOME LARGE BUILDINGS IN A CITY BEYOND. I IMMEDIATELY TURNED N AND STAYED AT OR BELOW 2000 FT I THINK REALIZING I DID NOT WANT TO GET INTO CTLED AIRSPACE. STILL BELIEVING I WAS N OF ADRIAN RATHER THAN S; I REASONED THAT THE ARPT AND CITY MAY HAVE BEEN ANN ARBOR; MI. I TRIED TO CALL ON THEIR CTL TWR FREQ AND GOT NO ANSWER. I CONTINUED TO FLY AROUND IN A CIRCLE TRYING TO FIND A VISUAL REF FOR VERIFICATION OF MY LOCATION. AFTER A PERIOD OF TIME I SPOTTED A CIRCULAR AUTOMOTIVE RACE TRACK TO THE E AND REMEMBERED SEEING ONE OF THESE ALONG ONE OF MY PLANNED RTES. I LOCATED WHAT I HAD REMEMBERED SEEING DUE N OF ADRIAN ON MY MAP THAT I WAS TO FLY OVER ON MY RETURN LEG FROM ADRIAN TO MIDLAND. BREATHING A SIGH OF RELIEF THINKING ALL I HAD TO DO IS FLY DUE S AND I WOULD BE OVER MY INTENDED DEST. THIS SOON PROVED TO BE A WRONG ASSUMPTION; BECAUSE I WAS REALLY OVER AN AUTOMOTIVE TEST TRACK N AND E OF TOLEDO EXPRESS ARPT. THIS TRACK WAS ONLY VAGUELY NOTED ON MY SECTIONAL CHART AND I FOUND IT ONLY LATER WHILE TRYING TO RECONSTRUCT WHAT HAPPENED. I WAS STILL FLYING NEAR 2000 FT TO IDENT GND VISUAL POINTS. FLYING THIS LOW LIMITS THE ABILITY TO SEE VERY FAR AND AS A RESULT; BY THE TIME I SAW THE LARGE ARPT TO THE W; I MUST HAVE FLOWN TOO CLOSE. I CONTINUED FLYING S AND TRIED TO CALL LANSING RADIO AGAIN ON 122.2 BUT GOT NO RESPONSE. I THEN SWITCHED OVER TO 122.8 MHZ AND CALLED FOR ANY UNICOM TO ASSIST. SOMEONE ANSWERED THIS TIME AND DIRECTED ME TO CALL TOLEDO APCH FREQ WHICH I DID; AND TOLD THEM OF MY PROB AND ASKED FOR PERMISSION TO LAND. I LANDED AND PROCEEDED TO GA AND WAS DIRECTED TO CONTACT THE CTL TWR ON THE PHONE. THIS MAY SOUND LIKE I WAS FLYING OVER A LARGE AREA A LONG WAY FROM MY INTENDED DEST; BUT IN REALITY I THINK MOST OF IT WAS ALL WITHIN 20 MI OF MY INTENDED DEST. WHAT DID I LEARN FROM ALL OF THIS? AND WHAT AN I GOING TO DO? REVIEW THE INCIDENT WITH MY INSTRUCTOR. GET ANY ADDITIONAL ADVICE OR TRAINING THAT HE RECOMMENDS. (DONE ON OCT/XY/93 AND SEVERAL TIMES SINCE.)