GA C172 PLT ERRONEOUSLY ENTERS CLASS C AIRSPACE AT CAE; SC.

Narrative

ON A VFR NIGHT FLT FROM HYW TO CAE; FLYING A CUTLASS RG; I DID NOT FILE A VFR FLT PLAN; BUT WAS RECEIVING FLT FOLLOWING FROM ATC ALONG THE RTE. BTWN SHAW APCH AND COLUMBIA APCH; SHAW BEING THE LAST APCH CTL BEFORE COLUMBIA; I SWITCHED MY RADIO TO 'BOTH' SO I COULD LISTEN TO COLUMBIA'S ATIS. SWITCHING BACK THE 'BOTH' SWITCH TO NEUTRAL; I ACCIDENTALLY FLIPPED THE RADIO SELECTION SWITCH TO NEUTRAL; WHICH MEANT I COULD RECEIVE NO COMS. WHEN I REALIZED IT; AND CALLED SHAW TO TERMINATE VFR FLT FOLLOWING SO I COULD CONTACT COLUMBIA APCH; HE SAID 'I TERMINATED YOU 15 MI AGO.' WHEN I CONTACTED COLUMBIA; HE SAID 'DO NOT ENTER CLASS C AIRSPACE.' SO I TURNED S TO AVOID ENTERING CLASS C. AFTER SQUAWKING THE GIVEN XPONDER CODE AND IDENTING; HE (THE COLUMBIA CTLR) SAID; 'YOU ENTERED CLASS C 5 MI AGO' AND PROCEEDED TO GIVE ME RADAR VECTORS TO THE RWY. I HAD THE ARPT IN SIGHT BUT THOUGHT IT WAS A DIFFERENT ONE (COLUMBIA OWENS DOWNTOWN; CUB) BECAUSE POOR REALIZATION OF DISTANCE TRAVELED -- MEANING; I THOUGHT I WAS FURTHER AWAY THAN I WAS. MY ONLY SUGGESTION TO REMEDY THE SIT FROM HAPPENING AGAIN WOULD BE THAT A CTLR TAKE EXTRA CARE TO GET AN ANSWER FROM A VFR FLT FOLLOWING PLT. PLTS WHO REQUEST FLT FOLLOWING ARE USUALLY LOW TIME OR STUDENT PLTS WHO NEED EXTRA ATTN NOT TO BE TREATED AS INCONVENIENCES BY THE CTLR.