R22 PLT ON INITIAL SOLO XCOUNTRY FLT MAKES A VISUAL NAV ERROR AND INADVERTENTLY ENTERS THE CLASS C AIRSPACE OF A LARGE COMMERCIAL ARPT CLOSE TO HIS DEST.

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ON MY FIRST XCOUNTRY HELI SOLO; I GOT LOST AND VIOLATED CLASS C AIRSPACE. MY HELI EXPERIENCE IS LIMITED TO 40 HRS; AND I HAD ONLY ONCE PREVIOUSLY LEFT THE TFC PATTERN WHICH WAS DURING MY DUAL XCOUNTRY HELI FLT. I TOOK OFF AND FLEW WITHOUT INCIDENT AT 800 FT AGL. I FLEW UP THE COASTLINE TO ZZZ1; GETTING THE ATIS AND TALKING TO THEIR TWR BEFORE CONDUCTING AN APCH TO A TXWY. MY SHIP WAS A RENTED ROBINSON R22 WITH NO BUILT-IN NAV EQUIP OF ANY KIND; IE; NO GPS AND NO VOR RECEIVER. FROM ZZZ1 I DEPARTED ON A PREVIOUSLY CALCULATED HDG INCLUDING A 10 DEG WIND CORRECTION ANGLE. LIGHT TURB FORCED ME TO SLOW THE HELI TO 60 KTS AND THEREFORE WHEN THE CLOCK CAME AROUND TO THE ETA ON MY FLT PLAN; I STILL DID NOT HAVE ANY ARPT IN SIGHT. ON THE HORIZON I SAW A SPRAWL OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT; FACTORIES; AND HWYS. AN ARPT BEGAN TO TAKE SHAPE ABOUT 7 MI AWAY. IT WAS HARD TO TELL BECAUSE I WAS ONLY 800 FT ABOVE THE GND AND NOTHING LOOKED FAMILIAR; BUT I GOT THE ATIS FOR ZZZ2 AND CALLED THE TWR. I WAS TOLD TO RPT A 2 MI R BASE FOR RWY 32. AS I GOT A BIT CLOSER TO THE ARPT I DISCOVERED GATES; 3 RWYS; BIG AIRPLANES. I WAS WITHIN THE AREA OF THEIR CLASS C AIRSPACE THAT GOES ALL THE WAY TO THE SURFACE. I MADE A L TURN TO THE S; AWAY FROM THE ARPT; AND DECIDED TO RISK REMOVING MY HANDS FROM THE FLT CTLS IN ORDER TO LOOK UP THE APCH CTL FREQ. WITHOUT ADVISING ZZZ2 THAT I HAD BEEN MISTAKEN ABOUT MY POS I CHANGED TO APCH FOR THIS SECTOR AND TOLD THEM THAT I THOUGHT I WAS IN THEIR AIRSPACE AT 1000 FT MSL; APOLOGIZING FOR THE INCURSION AND ADDING 'STUDENT PLT.' MEANWHILE BACK AT ZZZ2 THE TWR CTLR WAS PERPLEXED ABOUT THE HELI THAT HAD PROMISED TO RPT A 2-MI R BASE. HE CALLED ME 3 TIMES AND GOT NO ANSWER. AT THIS POINT THE OWNER OF THE FLT SCHOOL CALLED HIM ON THE TELEPHONE TO OFFER APOLOGIES; BUT APPARENTLY; THE CTLR WAS STILL QUITE UPSET UNTIL THE FLT SCHOOL OWNER PROMISED THAT I WOULD BE GIVEN ADDITIONAL XCOUNTRY ORIENTATION TRAINING BEFORE BEING SENT OUT SOLO AGAIN. WHAT COULD BE DONE TO PREVENT A RECURRENCE? I MIGHT HAVE: 1) STUDIED THE CHART MORE CAREFULLY BEFORE GOING OUT RATHER THAN RELYING ON THE FACT THAT I WOULD HAVE TIME ON THE GND IN ZZZ1; 2 ) FOLDED THE CHART IN ADVANCE SO THAT IT WAS OPEN TO JUST THE PORTION REQUIRED FOR THIS TRIP; 3) CLIPPED THE CHART TO MY LEG OR SOME PART OF THE HELI SO THAT IT COULD BE REFERRED TO IN A HANDS-FREE MANNER; 4) WRITTEN DOWN APCH FREQS AND PLANNED TO ASK FOR VFR ADVISORIES FOM ATC.