PLT OF AN EMS HELI FLEW THROUGH CLASS D AIRSPACE WITHOUT CONTACTING THE TWR WHILE IN CONTACT WITH THE AREA APCH CTL FACILITY.

Narrative

EYE TISSUE XFER FROM EFFINGHAM; IL; TO AXB. FLT ORIGINALLY SHOWED PATH TO BE CLR OF XZ ARPT. WAS IN CONTACT WITH ZZZ APCH; AND WAS GIVEN A HEADING THAT WOULD TAKE ME ACROSS N SIDE OF ZZZ. THIS WAS FIRST TRIP TO THIS PARTICULAR LOCATION; AND WAS FLYING AN ACFT WITH SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT AVIONICS SET UP FROM ACFT NORMALLY FLOWN; (IN MAINT); SO I WAS CONCENTRATING ON APCH INSTRUCTIONS AND TUNING RADIOS; AND DIDN'T REALIZE I HAD PENETRATED ZY CLASS D AIRSPACE UNTIL APCH ZZZ INDICATED 'RADAR CONTACT 4 1/2 MI S OF ZY ARPT.' MY ASSIGNED HEADING (250 DEGS) TOOK ME CLR OF THE CLASS D WITHIN A FEW SECONDS; AND I NOTICED NO TFC CONFLICTS AT THAT TIME. ABOUT THAT TIME I WAS SWITCHED TO XZ TWR FOR VECTORS THROUGH TFC; AND I DID NOT CONTACT XY TWR AS I WAS CLR OF THE ATA BY THAT TIME. I SHOULD HAVE PLANNED FOR THE POSSIBILITY THAT I WOULD BE VECTORED THROUGH THE XY CLASS D SPACE; BUT I LET MYSELF BECOME DISTRACTED AND LOST POSITIONAL AWARENESS. IN THE FUTURE I WILL PLAN FOR 'CHANGES OF PLANS;' HAVE FREQS THAT I MAY NEED READILY AVAILABLE; AND KEEP TRACK OF MY POS MORE CLOSELY; ESPECIALLY IN AN URBAN AREA WITH NUMEROUS SMALL ARPTS IN THE AREA. IT IS ALSO EASY TO FORGET THAT EVEN THOUGH YOU ARE IN CONTACT WITH APCH AND BEING VECTORED; YOU STILL HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF CONTACTING OTHER CTLING AGENCIES WHEN YOU ENTER THEIR AIRSPACE.