PLT CONDUCTED AN IFR FLT IN AN UNFAMILIAR BE33. HE DISCOVERED THAT HE COULD NOT MAINTAIN THE DESIRED COURSE AND WHEN HE BECAME UNCERTAIN OF HIS ALT CONTROL; REQUESTED CLRNC TO AN ARPT OUTSIDE CLASS B AIRSPACE.

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MY AIRPLANE; A CESSNA 210; WAS IN ZZZ; HAVING ITS ENG OVERHAULED. I NEEDED TO GET TO ZZZ1. A FRIEND URGED ME TO TAKE HIS IMPECCABLY MAINTAINED BEECH DEBONAIR; IN WHICH I HAD CHKED OUT A COUPLE OF YRS PRIOR. IT HAS SAME ENG AND PERFORMANCE AS MINE; AND I WAS CONFIDENT THAT I COULD FLY IT SAFELY. THE WX WAS BEAUTIFUL VFR WITH UNLIMITED CEILINGS AND EXCELLENT VISIBILITY. IT WAS PRETTY MUCH A LAST-MIN DECISION TO TAKE THE PLANE; AND ALTHOUGH I REVIEWED THE MANUAL BEFORE THE FLT; I DIDN'T TAKE MUCH TIME TO RE-FAMILIARIZE MYSELF WITH THE NAV INSTS; INCLUDING THE HSI; VOR NAV; GPS; AND AUTOPLT. I FILED AN IFR FLT PLAN TO ZZZ. FROM SOON AFTER TKOF; HOWEVER; I STARTED HAVING DIFFICULTY FOLLOWING THE VICTOR AIRWAYS; AND FREQUENTLY WANDERED OFF-COURSE. I REALIZED THAT I WASN'T SURE WHICH NAV RADIO MATCHED THE HSI AND THE VOR HEAD; COULDN'T PROGRAM THE GPS ENRTE; AND THE AUTOPLT DIDN'T HELP BECAUSE IT WOULD VEER OFF-COURSE UPON ACTIVATION. I WAS COMPLETELY COMFORTABLE WITH FLYING THE PLANE -- PWR MGMNT; ENG MGMNT; ETC; BUT I FELT LIKE AND FLEW MY COURSE LIKE A RANK AMATEUR. I'VE NEVER HAD AN HSI AND IT'S BEEN TOO LONG SINCE I TRAINED ON ONE. IN ANY EVENT; I WANDERED OFF COURSE; OVERSHOT A VOR; AND POSSIBLY BUSTED MY ALTS A COUPLE OF TIMES. I WAS INFORMED THAT I WAS 400 FT LOW AT 5600 FT MSL; BUT AFTER A CONVERSATION ABOUT THAT; WAS THEN TOLD THAT I WAS RIGHT AT 6000 FT MSL. THAT ADDED TO MY CONCERNS; AND I CHKED A COUPLE OF TIMES WITH SUBSEQUENT CTLRS; BUT IT SEEMED NOT TO REPEAT. AS I GOT CLOSER TO ZZZ AND I REALIZED THAT I JUST WASN'T COMFORTABLE ENOUGH WITH THE INSTS TO GO INTO CLASS B AIRSPACE; AND TRIED TO FIND AN ARPT ON MY CHARTS THAT WOULD LIKELY HAVE A RENTAL CAR. NONE APPEARED CLOSE; AND I WANDERED MORE WHILE SEARCHING MY CHARTS. APCH WAS WONDERFUL AND; AT MY REQUEST; CALLED AROUND UNTIL THEY FOUND AN ARPT THAT COULD GET ME A RENTAL CAR; AND DIVERTED ME ABOUT 40 NM E TO ZZZ2; WHERE I LANDED. I ASSUMED THAT THE IFR FLT PLAN WAS CLOSED AUTOMATICALLY; BUT DISCOVERED LATER THAT IT MAY NOT HAVE BEEN. I CALLED LATER; AND THAT SEEMED NOT TO CONCERN THEM; FORTUNATELY. THAT NIGHT; I CALLED AN INSTRUCTOR PLT FAMILIAR WITH THE PLANE; AND TALKED ABOUT THE NAV INSTS FOR ABOUT 20 MIN. THE NEXT MORNING; AFTER MUCH AGONIZING; I DECIDED TO FILE AN IFR FLT PLAN TO ZZZ3 RATHER THAN TO GO VFR; AND MY PERFORMANCE WAS AS DAY IS TO NIGHT: I FOLLOWED THE VICTOR AIRWAYS; SUCCESSFULLY UTILIZED THE HSI AND THE VOR/NAV 2; WAS ABLE TO PROGRAM THE GPS SUCCESSFULLY AND THEREBY XCHK THE ACCURACY OF MY COURSE; AND MADE GOOD USE OF THE AUTOPLT; HAVING FOUND THAT IT NAV'ED OR HEADED OFF THE HSI; AT MY ELECTION. IT WAS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT AND NORMAL AND GRATIFYING EXPERIENCE FROM THE DAY BEFORE. AT ZZZ3 ARPT; HOWEVER; I DID COMMIT A FAUX PAS. TO FACILITATE TFC; I TURNED OFF OF RWY AS SOON AS I COULD AFTER LNDG; ONLY TO HAVE TURNED ON TO ALSO-ACTIVE RWY INSTEAD OF TAXIING BEYOND IT AND TURNED OFF ONTO A TXWY. TWR WASN'T PLEASED; EVEN THOUGH I HAD BEEN MONITORING TFC AND BELIEVED I HAD NO CONFLICT WITH OTHER TFC. MY C210 IS ABOUT READY AGAIN; AND I LOOK FORWARD TO GETTING BACK INTO A PLANE THAT I AM INTIMATELY FAMILIAR WITH. HOWEVER; THE INSTRUCTOR FAMILIAR (WITH THE DEBONAIR) AND I ARE GOING TO GO OUT SOON FOR A RE-FAMILIARIZATION SESSION; JUST IN CASE I DECIDE OR NEED TO FLY IT AGAIN. I DO NOT WANT TO DO THIS TYPE OF POOR NAV AGAIN. IN RETROSPECT; I PERHAPS SHOULD HAVE RETURNED AND DRIVEN TO ZZZ1 BUT I THOUGHT I COULD FIGURE OUT THE NAV INSTS AND KEPT FORGING AHEAD INSTEAD; THINKING I COULD AVOID THE 7-8 HR DRIVE. I WISH I'D GONE BACK AND DRIVEN; ANYWAY.