A PA28 PLT FLEW INTO A TFR BECAUSE HE MADE A SCALE ERROR IN CHARTING THE AREA.

Narrative

I PLANNED ON A BRIEF LCL FLT OF 15 MINS TO BRING THE ENG UP TO OPERATING TEMP PRIOR TO AN OIL CHANGE SCHEDULED FOR THAT DAY. I INTENDED TO FLY FROM MY HOME BASE TO ZZZ AS A WAYPOINT AND RETURN TO AKR; A TOTAL OF 28 NM. I WAS AWARE OF A TFR FOR THE CLEVELAND; OH; AREA THAT WAS IN EFFECT AT THE TIME OF MY FLT THAT WAS CTRED ON CLE WITH A 30 MI RADIUS. PRIOR TO FLT; I CHKED THE DISTANCE FROM CLE TO AKR; 29G AND MY PROPOSED STRAIGHT-LINE FLT PATH BTWN THE 2 USING A PLOTTER AND CURRENT VFR SECTIONAL. AKR MEASURED 33 MI; 29G MEASURED 34.5 MI AND MY FLT PATH WOULD BE 32 MI OR GREATER AT ALL TIMES FROM THE TFR CTR POINT. AS I WAS APCHING TO LAND AT THE END OF THE 15 MIN FLT; I WAS CONTACTED ON THE LCL UNICOM FREQ AND TOLD TO CALL AKRON-CANTON APCH CTL (CAK) VIA PHONE WHEN ON THE GND CONCERNING A 'POSSIBLE TFR VIOLATION.' AFTER LNDG; I FIRST CALLED 1-800-WX-BRIEF AND WAS CONNECTED TO LANSING FSS. I ASKED THE BRIEFER TO RECHK THE PARAMETERS OF THE CLEVELAND TFR. HE STATED THAT 'THERE ARE 2 PARTS TO THE TFR -- A 10 MI RADIUS NO-FLY ZONE; AND A 30 MI RADIUS REQUIRING PRIOR CONTACT WITH ATC AND THE ISSUANCE OF A DISCRETE XPONDER CODE.' HE FURTHER VERIFIED THAT THE TFR WAS CTRED ON CLE. I IMMEDIATELY RE-MEASURED THE DISTANCES PREVIOUSLY REFERRED TO USING PLOTTER AND SECTIONAL AND RECORDED THE SAME FINDINGS AS BEFORE CONSISTENT WITH BEING OUTSIDE THE TFR BOUNDARY. I THEN CONTACTED AKRON-CANTON APCH CTL VIA PHONE AND WAS TOLD BY THE SUPVR THAT I HAD PENETRATED THE TFR. I EXPLAINED THAT I HAD MEASURED ALL DISTANCES PRIOR TO FLT TO AVOID JUST THIS OUTCOME. HE REPLIED THAT 'YOU HAD BETTER GET A NEW PLOTTER AS BOTH AKR AND 29G ARE WITHIN THE TFR.' I EXPRESSED MY TOTAL PUZZLEMENT AND FRUSTRATION WITH THIS OUTCOME; BUT THEN SUPPLIED ALL THE INFO HE REQUESTED. HE STATED HE WOULD HAVE TO FILE A RPT AND I WOULD BE CONTACTED BY SOMEONE WITHIN 1 WK OR SO. ONE MORE TIME I RETURNED TO MY PLOTTER AND SECTIONAL DETERMINED TO FIGURE OUT WHAT WENT WRONG. FINALLY I SAW MY MISTAKE -- I HAD USED THE STATUTE MI SCALE INSTEAD OF THE NAUTICAL MI SCALE ON MY PLOTTER. USING THE CORRECT SCALE I SAW THAT AKR LAY 1 NM INSIDE THE TFR WHILE 29G LAY DIRECTLY ON THE EDGE OF THE 30 NM RADIUS. THIS MISTAKE HAD LED TO A COMPLETELY UNINTENTIONAL AND ACCIDENTAL VIOLATION OF THE TFR. THE LESSONS I LEARNED WERE: 1) ALWAYS CLARIFY AND VERIFY THE UNITS BEING USED WHEN ANY DISTANCES ARE GIVEN. 2) WHEN CONSIDERING THE BOUNDARIES OF A TFR NEVER RELY SOLELY ON ONLY A VERBAL OR TEXT DESCRIPTION BUT FIND A DETAILED GRAPHIC DEPICTION SHOWING ALL AREAS INCLUDED. 3) CHK AND DOUBLECHK THE SCALE WHEN USING A PLOTTER. 4) AND FINALLY; EVEN EXPERIENCED RELATIVELY HIGH TIME PLTS CAN STILL MAKE ROOKIE MISTAKES.