C172 PLT ATTEMPTS A SHORT FERRY FLT WITH A MALFUNCTIONING RADIO; ENTERS THE PATTERN INCORRECTLY AND LANDS WITHOUT CLRNC ON THE WRONG RWY AT CHO; VA.

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ANOTHER PLT AND MYSELF FLEW FROM CHO TO GVE TO RETURN A RENTAL PLANE THAT HAD UNDERGONE REPAIRS. THE OTHER PLT FLEW INTO THE ARPT BECAUSE ITS SOLE RWY WAS TOO SHORT AND NARROW FOR MY CURRENT FLYING ABILITY. I WAS TO FLY THE RENTAL PLANE BACK TO CHO. BEFORE TAKING OFF ON OUR RETURN FLT I NOTICED DIFFICULTY IN COMMUNICATING WITH THE OTHER ACFT. I TOOK OFF FOLLOWING WHAT I WOULD REFER TO HERE AS ACFT 'A.' AFTER TKOF I REALIZED THAT MY AIRSPD INDICATOR AND POSSIBLY MY ALTIMETER WERE NOT FUNCTIONING PROPERLY. EXCEPT FOR CHO; WITH ITS LONG 7000 FT RWY; I DID NOT FEEL COMFORTABLE RETURNING TO GVE OR ATTEMPTING TO LAND AT ANY OTHER LCL ARPT. IT QUICKLY BECAME OBVIOUS THAT I WAS ABLE TO RECEIVE BUT NOT COMMUNICATE ON MY RADIO. CHO WAS ONLY A 10 MIN FLT. I HEARD THE PLT OF ACFT 'A' SPEAKING TO THE CHO TWR AND INFORMING THEM THAT I DID NOT HAVE A FULLY WORKING RADIO BUT SEEMED TO BE ABLE TO HEAR. I FOLLOWED PLANE 'A' AND THE CHO TWR ASKED ME TO TURN N IF I COULD HEAR THE TWR. I TURNED N AND WAS; I THOUGHT; CLRED TO FOLLOW PLANE 'A' FOR A LNDG. WHEN I TURNED BACK TO THE ARPT I LOST TRACK OF PLANE 'A' BUT THOUGHT IT WAS DOWNWIND FOR RWY 3. I WENT DOWNWIND FOR RWY 3 AND WAS TOLD TO MAKE A 360 DEG FOR SPACING. I MADE THE 360 DEG AND CONTINUED FOR A LNDG. AT THE SAME TIME I HEARD ANOTHER ACFT ALSO CLRED TO LAND ON RWY 3. THIS IS NOT UNUSUAL DEPENDING ON THE POS OF BOTH ACFT. AFTER LNDG I WAS TOLD TO CALL THE TWR AND WAS INFORMED THAT THEY EXPECTED ME TO FOLLOW PLANE 'A' AND LAND ON RWY 21 AND THAT THE TWR HAD FLASHED A RED SIGNAL TO ME. BECAUSE OF MY FAULTY INSTS; AND A GREAT DEAL OF APPREHENSION; I HAD LIMITED MY CONCENTRATION OF 'FLYING THE NUMBERS' TO A SAFE LNDG. MY INITIAL ERROR WAS IN TAKING OFF WITH THE 'REPAIRED PLANE' EVEN THOUGH I WAS HAVING RADIO DIFFICULTIES. THE CLOSENESS OF CHO AND THE VISUAL CONDITIONS LULLED ME INTO A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY.