PA28 PVT PLT GETS LOST AFTER LOSING ONE VOR NAV RADIO NEAR UDD. JOSHUA APCH ATTEMPT A VECTOR TO APV; BUT PLT MISIDENTS ARPT AND GETS LOST IN A SUBSEQUENT ATTEMPT TO GET BACK TO HOME ARPT AT EMT.

Narrative

ON THE SECOND LEG OF A MULTI-LEG XCOUNTRY FLT; I FOUND MYSELF IN A SIT WHERE I WAS NOT COMPLETELY SURE OF MY LOCATION. I DEPARTED FROM EMT ENRTE TO UDD ON A REALLY HAZY DAY IN THE LOS ANGELES BASIN WITH AN SVFR CLRNC. THE VISIBILITY WAS 2 1/2 MI WITH HAZE UNDER OTHERWISE CLR SKIES. AT 1600 FT MSL I REACHED VFR CONDITIONS. ONCE I GOT OUT OF THE LA BASIN THE VISIBILITIES IMPROVED TO BETTER THAN 10 MI. THE TRIP TO UDD WAS OTHERWISE UNEVENTFUL. THE NEXT LEG TOOK ME N TO APV. I WAS INTENDING TO FIND MY WAY USING VOR NAV; BUT SOMEWHERE DURING THIS TIME ONE OF MY NAV/COM RADIOS BEGAN ACTING UP; AND I COULDN'T RELIABLY TUNE IN THE STATION I WAS INTENDING TO USE TO XCHK MY POS. I HAD PLANNED MY TRIP USING A WIDE AREA CHART INSTEAD OF A SECTIONAL; AND THIS BECAME THE MAIN PROB; BECAUSE WHILE I HAVE EASILY NAVED VIA PILOTAGE USING A SECTIONAL CHART; I FOUND THE DETAIL ON THE WAC WAS TOO SMALL TO HELP IN MY ARPT SEARCH. I CONTACTED JOSHUA APCH FOR AN ON-COURSE HDG TO APV; BUT I MISTAKENLY IDENTED THE ARPT AND APCH ASKED ME TO SWITCH TO THE CTAF FREQ. I REALIZED THAT I COULD NOT SEE THE ARPT AND DECIDED TO ABORT MY LNDG AT APV AND CONTINUE ON TO WJF. AT THIS POINT I SHOULD HAVE REESTABLISHED CONTACT WITH JOSHUA APCH JUST TO HAVE AN EXTRA SET OF EYES HELPING ME WATCH FOR TFC; BUT TRUTHFULLY I WAS EMBARRASSED ABOUT ADMITTING I COULDN'T FIND THE ARPT AND OPTED TO CONTINUE ON MY OWN. I ALLOWED MYSELF TO GET DISTR BY MY OWN EMBARRASSMENT AND WHILE I HAD MY HEAD IN MY WAC CHART ENSURING I KNEW WHERE I WAS GOING; I LOOKED UP AND FOUND MYSELF RAPIDLY APCHING PMD. I WAS CURRENTLY FLYING AT 4500 FT MSL; AND THEIR CLASS D AIRSPACE EXTENDS UP TO 5000 FT MSL. I IMMEDIATELY EXECUTED A CLBING 180 DEG TURN TO THE R; AND I'M REALLY UNSURE IF I PENETRATED THEIR AIRSPACE OR NOT. ONCE I WAS 6500 FT; I TURNED AGAIN AND SCANNED FOR WJF. I'VE BEEN THERE SEVERAL TIMES; BUT TODAY WITH MY RISING PERSONAL FRUSTRATION LEVEL; I WAS COMPLETELY UNABLE TO LOCATE THE ARPT. REALIZING MY PERFORMANCE IN FLYING THE AIRPLANE WAS BEING SERIOUSLY COMPROMISED BY MENTAL DISTRS; I DECIDED TO RETURN TO THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY; WHERE I HAD DONE ALL MY PVT TRAINING AND LAND EITHER AT WHP OR BUR AND COOL OFF A BIT BEFORE RETURNING TO EMT. I WAS BECOMING MORE AND MORE DISORIENTED; HOWEVER; AND WHILE I KNEW VISUALLY HOW TO GET TO WHP FROM WJF; BECAUSE I COULDN'T LOCATE WJF I WASN'T REALLY SURE IF I WAS GOING THE RIGHT DIRECTION. I KNEW I NEEDED TO HEAD ROUGHLY SSW; SO I TUNED IN THE VOR AT PALMDALE WITH MY ONE GOOD RADIO AND TRACKED OUTBOUND ON THE 200 DEG RADIAL. BELOW ME I SAW A MAJOR INTERSTATE; AND IN THE DISTANCE THE HAZE LAYER OF THE LA BASIN; AND THEN I INCORRECTLY ASSUMED IT WAS INTERSTATE 5 (IT WAS ACTUALLY INTERSTATE 15). AGAIN; THE WAC WAS OF ABSOLUTELY NO HELP BECAUSE WHILE IT SHOWS MAJOR ROADS; IT DOESN'T IDENT THEM. I KNEW VISUALLY HOW TO FOLLOW I-5 HOME; SO I TRACKED THE FREEWAY UNTIL IT CROSSED INTO A MAJOR MOUNTAIN PASS; AT WHICH POINT IT TURNED TO THE W. NOW I KNEW IT WASN'T I-5; AND WORSE; I KNEW I WAS COMPLETELY LOST. I RECHKED MY FUEL CALCULATIONS; AND WHILE I WASN'T IN IMMINENT DANGER OF RUNNING OUT OF FUEL; I BECAME QUITE CONCERNED ABOUT HOW I WAS GOING TO GET HOME. I TRIED TO CONTACT JOSHUA APCH ON THE LAST FREQ I HAD; BUT I WAS OUT OF RANGE. DURING THE PREVIOUS LEG I HAD A FREQ FOR ZLA; SO I TRIED THAT AND COMMUNICATED TO THE CTLR I WAS LOST. THINKING I WAS OVER I-5; I ESTIMATED MY POS IN THE GORMAN PASS; BUT OF COURSE; HE COULDN'T LOCATE ME THERE. AT THIS POINT I LEFT THE MOUNTAIN PASS AND INTO THE LA BASIN; AND WHILE I WAS FLYING IN VMC; THE HAZE LAYER BELOW MADE IT DIFFICULT TO ASCERTAIN SURFACE DETAILS. I COULD SEE AN ARPT IN THE DISTANCE TO MY L; AND AS I WAS TRYING TO IDENT IT; I NOTICED DIRECTLY BELOW WAS ANOTHER ARPT; AND I COULD CLRLY READ 'RIALTO' ON THE RWY. I WAS MUCH FURTHER TO THE E THAN I HAD IMAGINED; AND SO I OPTED TO RETURN DIRECTLY TO EMT AS IT WAS NOW THE CLOSEST ARPT I WANTED TO LAND AT. SO NOW I KNEW WHERE I WAS; BUT THE ZLA CTLR WAS STILL TRYING TO FIND ME. HE ASKED ME TO SQUAWK 7700 SO I WOULD BE EASIER TO FIND; BUT I TOLD HIM I WASN'T LOST ANYMORE. AGAIN; HE ASKED ME TO XMIT 7700 SO I COMPLIED. HAVING LOCATED ME ON HIS SCREEN; HE GAVE ME THE FREQ TO SOCAL APCH AND ASKED ME TO CONTACT THEM AND TELL THEM I WAS SQUAWKING 7700. I SWITCHED FREQS AND SOCAL INFORMED ME I WAS XMITTING 7700; DID I HAVE AN EMER? I EXPLAINED THE SIT AND WAS GIVEN A NEW XPONDER CODE. THE HAZE LAYER WAS STILL QUITE DENSE; BUT VISIBILITIES HAD IMPROVED TO MARGINAL VFR CONDITIONS; AND THE RETURN TRIP TO EL MONTE; WHILE WITH REDUCED VISIBILITIES; WAS UNEVENTFUL. I WAS REALLY SURPRISED HOW POORLY I MANAGED THE NAV ASPECT WITH THE MENTAL DISTRS; AND HOW QUICKLY A LITTLE EMBARRASSMENT TURNED INTO A MAJOR STUMBLING BLOCK IN MY SITUATIONAL AWARENESS. ALSO; I UNDERESTIMATED HOW THE REDUCED DETAIL ON THE WAC WOULD MAKE IT DIFFICULT TO ASCERTAIN MY POS AFTER ONE OF MY NAV/COM'S BECAME UNRELIABLE. I CAN'T EXPLAIN WHY I WAS UNABLE TO LOCATE EITHER APV OR WJF; EXCEPT THAT MY RISING ANXIETY LEVEL GOT IN THE WAY OF THINKING CLRLY. I HAVE MADE MANY TRIPS ON MY OWN TO NEW ARPTS; AND IT WAS A PERSONAL DISAPPOINTMENT THAT I COULDN'T LOCATE APV; MUCH LESS WJF WHERE I HAD BEEN BEFORE. THE SIT WAS EXACERBATED BY THE FEAR OF BLUNDERING INTO SOMEONE ELSE'S AIRSPACE WITHOUT A CLRNC. I CERTAINLY DID NOT PANIC; BUT I WAS DEFINITELY NOT AT MY TOP MENTAL FUNCTIONING. I WILL ENSURE ON FUTURE FLTS THAT I HAVE A SECTIONAL CHART ABOARD; AND PLAN TO TAKE FURTHER NAV TRAINING WITH MY INSTRUCTOR. MOST IMPORTANTLY; I WILL REMIND MYSELF TO KEEP IT TOGETHER MENTALLY AND TRY NOT TO HAVE CURVES THE FLT THROWS AT ME DISTR ME FROM MY MOST IMPORTANT TASKS: FLYING THE PLANE SAFELY AND MAINTAINING SITUATIONAL AWARENESS. FINALLY; I REALIZE THAT I SHOULD HAVE ADMITTED MY MISTAKE TO JOSHUA APCH. MAINTAINING COM WITH THE CTLRS ALLOWS THEM TO DO THEIR JOB; ASSIST PLTS IN HAVING A SAFE TRIP; AND I KNOW THEY WILL DO EVERYTHING THEY CAN IF ONE SIMPLY ASKS.