AA5 BRAND NEW INST PLT HAD A TRACK DEV AFTER ATTEMPTING FLT IN IFR CONDITIONS IN ZBW CLASS E.

Narrative

I HAD JUST COMPLETED MY INST CHK RIDE THE PREVIOUS DAY. THE WX WAS MARGINAL VFR; AND THE LIGHT WAS WANING; SO I OPTED TO SPEND THE NIGHT IN A HOTEL RATHER THAN TEST MY NEW SKILLS AT NIGHT. THE NEXT DAY WAS 600 FT OVCST WITH TOPS MORE THAN 9000 FT; BUT MY DEST WAS PREDICTED TO HAVE VFR CONDITIONS AT MY TIME OF ARR. FREEZING LEVELS WERE ABOVE 9000 FT; SO I FELT LIKE THE TRIP COULD BE HANDLED WITH MY SKILL LEVEL -- I HAD SPENT SEVERAL HRS IN 'ACTUAL' DURING MY TRAINING. MY DEP CLRNC WAS TO CLB 7000 FT; PROCEED TO LEB VIA V141 WHEN ABLE; AND THEN DIRECT BASUU. I WAS ABLE TO QUICKLY LOCATE LEB ON MY CHART; BUT NOT BASUU -- I ASSUMED I WOULD HAVE PLENTY OF TIME TO FIGURE OUT THE REMAINDER OF THE RTE ONCE IN FLT. HOW WRONG I WAS. ONCE I WAS IN THE CLOUDS; I FOUND THE TASK OF AVIATING THE NON-AUTOPLT EQUIPPED PLANE CONSUMING ALL OF MY ATTN. EVERY TIME I GLANCED DOWN AT THE CHART; THE AIRPLANE WOULD DIVERT 20 DEGS. I JOINED V141 AND MADE SEVERAL ATTEMPTS TO LOCATE BASUU ON THE CHART. FINALLY; I FOUND MYSELF OVER LEB AND NOT SURE WHERE TO TURN. CTR QUERIED ME AS TO IF I WAS CLRED OVER LEB; AND REQUESTED VECTORS TO BASUU. CTR GAVE ME A HEADING AND A RADIAL FROM LEB. ESSENTIALLY AT THIS POINT; I HAD LOST SITUATIONAL AWARENESS. I HAD AN IDEA OF WHERE I WAS; BUT WAS NOT SURE WHERE I WAS GOING. I TURNED TO THE HEADING CTR PROVIDED; AND PROCEEDED TOWARDS BASUU UNTIL I WAS HANDED OVER TO MANCHESTER APCH. CLRLY; I ATTEMPTED A MISSION THAT WAS BEYOND MY SKILL LEVEL. I MADE SEVERAL MISTAKES; INCLUDING NOT VERIFYING THE RTE BEFORE DEP; AND NOT GETTING HELP RIGHT AWAY WHEN I WAS UNSURE OF MY RTE. THE RTE; AND REQUIRED ACTIONS SEEM SIMPLE IN RETROSPECT; BUT I FOUND THE WORKLOAD MAINTAINING COURSE AND ALT ALL CONSUMING WHILE FLYING IN THE CLOUDS. I WON'T ATTEMPT THE SAME AGAIN WITHOUT GETTING FURTHER TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE.