STUDENT PLT ON SOLO CROSS COUNTRY FLT BECOMES LOST AND INADVERTENTLY LANDS ON A MILITARY BASE.

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I WAS DOING MY FIRST CROSS COUNTRY SOLO FROM FREEWAY ARPT IN BOWIE; MD (WOO) TO SUSSEX COUNTY ARPT IN GEORGETOWN; DELAWARE (GED) ABOUT 60 MILES AWAY. SEVERAL DAYS BEFORE MY FLT I HAD CREATED A FLT PLAN INCLUDING CHKPOINTS; ETA; AND DISTANCES AND REVIEWED IT WITH MY INSTRUCTOR. THE MORNING BEFORE THE FLT I CALLED FOR A PREFLT BRIEFING AND REVIEWED MY PLAN WITH AN INSTRUCTOR AT THE ARPT BEFORE MY FLT. I WAS TOLD THERE WERE NO NOTAMS ENRTE AND THAT THE WEATHER WAS FINE. FOR THE LAST 30 MILES OF THE FLT I WAS MOSTLY FLYING OVER NON-DESCRIPT FARMLAND AND THERE WERE VERY FEW VISUAL CHKPOINTS. ONE OF MY CHKPOINTS WAS CROSSING THE 47 DEG LINE OF THE PATUXENT RIVER VOR. AS I NEARED THE CHKPOINT I COULD NOT RAISE THE MORSE CODE FOR THE PATUXENT RIVER VOR SO I CONSULTED MY CHART AND FOUND THAT I WAS STILL ON COURSE; BUT I NO LONGER HAD GOOD TIME ESTIMATES FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE FLT. MY NEXT CHKPOINT WAS TO FLY OVER THE CTR OF THREE TOWNS. WHEN I REACHED WHAT I THOUGH WAS THE CHKPOINT I APPEARED TO BE OVER THE SOUTHERNMOST OF THE TOWNS INSTEAD OF THE CENTRAL ONE. INSTEAD OF FLYING N THEN TO OVERFLY THE CENTRAL TOWN I DECIDED THAT I WAS CLOSE ENOUGH TO THE ARPT (ABOUT 15 MILES) TO SIMPLY ADJUST MY COURSE SLIGHTLY N AND CONTINUE GOING. WHEN I REACHED THE DELAWARE BAY I SAW THE ROAD AND THE BAY AND ASSUMED I WAS STILL A LITTLE TO FAR S SO I FOLLOWED THE ROAD N LOOKING FOR THE ARPT. AFTER LESS THAN 5 MINS OF FLT I SAW AN ARPT AHEAD THAT FIT THE APPROXIMATE DESCRIPTION OF GEORGETOWN. THE TOWN; BAY AND ROAD WERE ALL IN THE CORRECT LOCATIONS RELATIVE TO THE ARPT; AND THE RWYS WERE AT APPROX THE RIGHT ANGLES. SINCE I WAS NOT COMPLETELY SURE OF MY LOC I CLIMBED TO ABOUT 3500 FT AND CIRCLED CHKING LAND MARKS. AFTER CIRCLING TWICE THE LANDMARKS STILL APPEARED TO MATCH (INCLUDING THE RACETRACK JUST NW OF THE ARPT) SO I DECIDED I MUST BE IN THE RIGHT PLACE. I HAD BEEN ON GEORGETOWN'S FREQ CALLING THE UNICOM FOR THE ENTIRE TIME I HAD BEEN CIRCLING AND HAD BEEN GETTING NO RESPONSE. I DECIDED THAT FURTHER CIRCLING WOULD GIVE ME NO NEW INFO AND THAT THE BEST MOVE WOULD BE TO LAND. I LANDED AND BEGAN TAXIING OF THE RWY. I STARTED TAXIING TOWARDS THE BUILDINGS OFF TO THE SIDE; BUT WOULD HAVE HAD TO CROSS THE RWY TO GET TO THEM. I WAS PRETTY SURE BY THIS POINT THAT I WAS IN THE WRONG PLACE SO I TURNED AROUND AND WENT BACK TO AN EMPTY AREA WHERE I WAS MET BY THE DOVER AIR FORCE BASE MP'S. IN RETROSPECT WHEN I REALIZED I WAS OFF COURSE I SHOULD HAVE FOUND MY CHKPOINT BEFORE CONTINUING ON. ALSO I HAD MY CHART FOLDER IN SUCH A WAY THAT EVEN THOUGH IT WAS ONLY 20 MILES N OF GEORGETOWN; DOVER WAS BEHIND A FOLD AND THEREFORE NOT VISIBLE WHEN I WAS CHKING MY CHARTS. I DID NOT ATTEMPT VOR CROSS CHKS BECAUSE AT NO POINT DID I EVER THINK I WAS ACTUALLY LOST. THE LANDMARK'S APPEARED TO MATCH MY CHART AND BECAUSE OF THE WAY THE CHART WAS FOLDED I DID NOT SEE ANY OTHER ARPTS THAT FIT THE DESCRIPTION. IN THE FUTURE I WILL MAKE SURE I HAVE ARPT DIAGRAMS WITH ME SO THAT I CAN BE SURE THE ARPT I SEE IS THE ONE I THINK IT IS; AND I WILL ASK THE BRIEFER SPECIFICALLY ABOUT ANY VORS I PLAN TO USE. I WILL ALSO FOLD MY CHART DIFFERENTLY SO THAT I HAVE A BETTER GRASP OF THE AREA AROUND MY INTENDED DEST.