A C150 PVT PLT USING BRAND NEW STATE OF THE ART NAV SYS AND PORTABLE COM RADIO; INCURS INTO THE PROHIBITED P-49 AREA.

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ON NOV/XA/06; I OVER-FLEW RESTR AREA P-49 WHILE ON A VFR XCOUNTRY. I CAUSED THIS OVERFLT; AS PIC. IT WAS PLT ERROR. THERE WAS NO INTENT OR DESIRE TO VIOLATE. I WAS WELL AWARE OF THE RESTR AREA; WAS ATTEMPTING TO FLY AROUND; AND AT ALL TIMES BELIEVED I WAS CLR. MY FAILURE WAS GETTING INTO A SITUATION OVER MY HEAD; FOCUSING ON CORRECTING THE PROB USING SOLUTIONS BEYOND MY ABILITIES; AND OVERLOOKING THE SIMPLEST BASIC ANSWERS. I AM A LOW TIME PVT PLT. THIS WAS MY FIRST SOLO XCOUNTRY FLT IN 20 YRS. I READ AND REVIEWED THE LATEST FAA REGS; TFR'S; AND CURRENT PROCS. THERE HAVE BEEN CHANGES IN THE LAST 20 YRS; NEW AND DIFFERENT NAMES FOR AIRSPACE; ATC; FLT REQUIREMENTS; PROCS. I SOMETIMES FOUND MYSELF WONDERING AM I REMEMBERING THE OLD OR THE NEW. I WAS USING MY NEW ELECTRONIC FLT COMPUTER AND HAND HELD RADIO FOR THE FIRST TIME. I READ THE INSTRUCTIONS ON OPERATING MY COMPUTER; AND RADIO; BUT REMEMBERING THE CORRECT BUTTONS IN THE RIGHT ORDER TAKES MORE PRACTICE AND EXPERIENCE THAN I HAD. I REVIEWED USING THE 2 SECTIONAL CHARTS REQUIRED; IDENTING IMPORTANT INFO; MOVING DATA FROM ONE TO THE OTHER; AND WORKING THE ACFT RADIO TO TALK AND COMPLY WITH ATC. I HAD DONE ALL OF THESE WHILE SITTING ON THE GND; WHERE I COULD STOP; ASK QUESTIONS; FOCUSED ON ONE ISSUE; AND TAKE AS MUCH TIME AS NEEDED TO FIND THE CORRECT ANSWERS. BUT I HAD NEVER TRIED DOING IT ALL AT ONCE WHILE CTLING AN ACFT ALONE IN FLT. I ALLOWED THE EXCITEMENT OF A FIRST SOLO XCOUNTRY TO CTL MY JUDGEMENT. MY FIRST MISTAKE WAS CHANGING MY FLT PLAN. I HAD A DETAILED VFR RTE LAID OUT; WELL TO THE W OF P-49; WITH TIME DISTANCE; LANDMARKS; RADIO FREQS IDENTED. THEN WHEN I TOOK OFF FROM DENTON I CONTACTED FLT WATCH WITH THE INTENT OF OPENING AND FLYING MY FLT PLAN. THE RADIO WAS BUSY; AND NOT WANTING TO ADD TO ATC PROBS; I ACCEPTED THEIR VECTOR OF 190 DEGS DIRECT TO KILLEEN. DALLAS IS A BUSY AREA AND I WAS NOT COMFORTABLE USING THE RADIO FOR SEVERAL COURSE CORRECTIONS. I WANTED TO KEEP RADIO USE BRIEF. ACCEPTING THIS DIRECT RTE MADE MY FLT PLAN USELESS. I FOCUSED ALL MY ATTN ON FOLLOWING ATC THROUGH THE DALLAS AREA; SO WHEN I WAS HANDED OFF TO WACO APCH I DID NOT HAVE THE MOST BASIC FLYING REQUIREMENTS. MY SECOND MISTAKE WAS I COULD NOT IDENT EXACTLY WHERE I WAS BY GND REF. I DID NOT HAVE NEEDED RADIO FREQS AVAILABLE. I DID NOT HAVE LANDMARKS IDENTED. DURING THE NEXT SEVERAL MINS I TURNED THIS SIMPLE PROB INTO A MAJOR ISSUE. WACO ADVISED ME I WAS S OF CLEBURNE; BUT I FAILED TO ASK FOR AN EXACT DISTANCE AND LOCATION. WACO GAVE ME A VECTOR OF 150 DEGS TO STEER ME CLR OF P-49; AND AT THE TIME I FELT I WOULD SOON LOCATE MYSELF. SHORTLY AFTER; FOR UNKNOWN REASONS; I FOUND I COULD NOT CONTACT OR HEAR WACO. I WAS FLYING A HDG TO TAKE ME TOWARD WACO AGAINST WINDS AND GUSTS FROM AROUND 180 DEGS. THE ACFT KEPT TRYING TO TURN INTO THE WIND. I HAD BEEN ADVISED OF GUSTY WINDS; BUT THIS WAS MY FIRST EXPERIENCE ON HOW MUCH THEY WOULD BOUNCE AND TURN MY ACFT REQUIRING ME TO CORRECT BACK ON COURSE. I FOUND I HAD TO WEDGE MYSELF IN THE SEAT; AND MAINTAIN A HVY CONSTANT L RUDDER; AND FIRM CTL ON THE WHEEL. A FEW TIMES I WAS BOUNCED HARD AGAINST THE SEAT BELT; WHICH STARTLED ME. THE UNEXPECTED ROUGH RIDE IN A LIGHT ACFT WAS NEW; VERY DISTURBING AND A FEW TIMES SCARY. I RECALL FEELING VERY TENSE WITH MY L LEG AND ARM BECOMING TIRED AND STIFF. MY THIRD MISTAKE WAS SPENDING COUNTLESS MINS TRYING TO REESTABLISH RADIO CONTACT WITH WACO. CHKING EQUIP; ADJUSTING VOLUME AND SQUELCH; LOOKING FOR THE PROB; ATTEMPTING TO CONNECT AND USE MY HAND HELD WITH MY EARPHONES. DURING THOSE MINS ALL I HEARD ON THE WACO FREQ WAS SILENCE OR A DASH-DOT AND TONE SOUND; WHICH I COULD NOT IDENT. MISTAKE FOUR WAS AT THE SAME TIME I'M OPENING AND WORKING WITH 2 SECTIONALS (DALLAS AND SAN ANTONIO) WITH MY R HAND TO TRY TO LOCATE MYSELF. I BELIEVED I MISIDENTED THE DISTANCE AND DIRECTION OF ONE IMPORTANT BRIDGE LANDMARK; LEADING ME TO ASSUME I WAS MORE TO THE E AND N THAN MY ACTUAL LOCATION. WHEN LANDMARKS I EXPECTED DID NOT APPEAR;I BECAME TOTALLY LOST. I TRIED USING MY ELECTRONIC FLT COMPUTER FOR TIME DISTANCE AND HDGS. I WAS GETTING ANSWERS THAT COULD NOT BE RIGHT; OR WORSE; NO ANSWER AT ALL. LOOKING IN THE INSTRUCTION MANUALS FOR ANSWERS AT THE TIME WAS A BIG MISTAKE. I BECAME FOCUSED ON CTLING THE ACFT DIRECTION; AND KEEPING IT ON A COURSE TOWARD WACO; TRYING TO REMEMBER THE ATC RULES; THINKING I MUST FOLLOW THEIR LAST DIRECTION ON WHAT TO DO; ATTEMPTING TO GET THE RADIO WORKING; COMPUTE MY POS USING AN ELECTRONIC FLT COMPUTER I'M NOT USED TO; LOCATE MYSELF ON THE SECTIONAL WITH FEW LANDMARKS; AND FEELING TOTALLY AT A LOSS WHEN NOTHING WAS WORKING. I FOUND MYSELF CONFUSED; WITH FALSE ASSUMPTIONS; UNSURE WHAT TO DO. AND I WILL ADMIT; SCARED. WHERE WAS I? WHICH WAY TO FLY? DO I HAVE ENOUGH FUEL? WHERE ARE EMER ARPTS? SHOULD I RESET IDENT TO 7600? AFTER WHAT FELT LIKE HRS; BUT I KNOW WAS ONLY MINS; I SAW A BUILT UP AREA WITH A CITY TO THE E. I TOOK THIS TO BE WACO. BY THIS TIME ANY ENJOYMENT OF THE FLT WAS GONE. ALL I WANTED TO DO WAS GET TO KILLEEN AND END THIS FLT. BELIEVING THIS CITY TO BE WACO I TURNED S ASSUMING I WOULD SOON IDENT LANDMARKS AND GET HOME. THEN; S OF WACO; WITHOUT DOING ANYTHING ON MY PART I KNOW OF; I COULD HEAR AND TALK WITH WACO. I DID NOT THEN; NOR DO I NOW KNOW WHAT THE PROB WAS. I FAILED TO STOP; TAKE A BREATH AND THINK OUT THE SIMPLE ANSWER. I KNEW I WAS SOMEWHERE W OF INTERSTATE 35. WHEN THE PROBS STARTED; IF I HAD TURNED TO 090 DEGS; AND FLEW E I WOULD FIND I-35. THERE I WOULD HAVE LOCATED MYSELF CLRLY; BEEN ABLE TO CONTACT SOMEONE; CALM DOWN AND REGAIN CTL; BUT MOST IMPORTANT I WOULD HAVE STAYED AWAY FROM RESTR AREA. IT'S ALL SO SIMPLE AFTER THE FACT! I HAVE NO IDEA WHEN I VIOLATED P-49. I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE. I WASN'T LOOKING FOR IT. IN MY MIND I WASN'T NEAR IT. I UNDERSTAND THE NEED FOR THE RESTR AREA; AND WITH MY MIL BACKGROUND CAN GUESS THE TENSION AND TURMOIL I CAUSED WITHIN ATC; FAA AND OTHER GOV AGENCIES. FOR THIS I OFFER MY SINCERE APOLOGY. IT DOESN'T MAKE UP FOR IT; BUT IT'S SINCERE. I AM VERY; VERY SORRY I MADE THIS FLT! I AM TAKING A STEP BACK. MY GND SCHOOL 30 YRS AGO WAS A 6 MONTH COLLEGE CREDIT COURSE; PART OF A COLLEGE AVIATION DEGREE PROGRAM UNDER FAR 141. I AM ENROLLING AND WILL COMPLETE A SIMILAR STRUCTURED DETAILED GND SCHOOL COURSE. I NEED TO LEARN; UNDERSTAND AND BECOME KNOWLEDGEABLE WITH FLYING TODAY'S AIRSPACE. REINFORCE WHAT I KNOW; AND TEACH ME WHAT I NEED. I HAVE DISCUSSED WHAT HAPPENED WITH MY CLUB'S CHIEF FLT INSTRUCTOR AND SCHEDULING MORE DUAL INSTRUCTOR TIME TO PRACTICE; ORGANIZE AND PERFECT MY COCKPIT MGMNT; ELECTRONICS; AND NAV. I AM AND MUST THINK OF MYSELF AS A STUDENT PLT. I WANT TO BE A GOOD PLT. A SAFE PLT! MY BIGGEST MISTAKE AND FAILURE WAS OVER-CONFIDENCE IN MYSELF. THAT I COULD ACCEPT; ADJUST; ADAPT AND OVERCOME THE CHANGES. THAT; IN MY MIND; I WAS IN CTL AND HAD ALL THE ANSWERS. WHEN THE UNPLANNED AND UNEXPECTED OCCURRED; I WAS NOT READY AND ABLE. WHATEVER ANYONE ELSE THINKS; DECIDES OR BELIEVES; I NEVER WANT TO BE IN A SITUATION LIKE THAT AND FEEL THAT WAY AGAIN.