I second Jay's remarks. When I read your post, Rodney, I was disturbed
by your failure to take seriously your pilot-in-command
responsibilities, with regard to crew/passenger management and with
regard to ongoing navigation (which you appear to have simply ignored,
except for looking at the GPS screen without even periodically
reviewing its settings). Your attitude was appropriate for an
impromptu drive in a car, not for piloting an airplane.

Furthermore, your main concern afterward seems to be whether you'll
get caught, rather than whether your negligence risked causing a
crash, and might do so in the future.

I'd be afraid to fly with you or near you until and unless you
reassess your priorities. I urge you to discuss these matters with an
instructor (perhaps one you haven't flown with before) and seek
further training. There's no shame in that--on the contrary, it would
be to your credit to show that you recognize that there's a problem
and that you will do what's needed to resolve it.

Good luck to you.





On Jan 26, 9:50*am, "Jay Honeck" wrote:
Am I going to get in trouble for this? *It was completely accidental,
and I don't even know if I was in the class c for sure. *Anybody have
any input? *I'm sorry if this sounds stupid. *I just got my private
pilot cert about 2 weeks ago.

Fill out the NASA form. *Hopefully, no harm, no foul.

However, you've got some more learnin' to do about flying. * Rule #1 is that
no one touches the plane in any way, shape or form, while in flight without
express permission to do so. *This includes all flight controls, engine
controls, and navigational equipment. *If your friend did this without
permission, you should have shut him down. *And if you gave him permission
to goof around with your primary navigational tool, you've now learned how
crazy that can be.

Rule #2 is always maintain situational awareness. *This often means that you
must curtail the social aspects of being with your buddies in order to
concentrate on what you're doing. *Not only did you endanger yourself and
your friend by goofing around, you have no idea what kind of headaches you
may have caused air traffic control and any airline passengers who may have
been diverted.

Hopefully you learned some valuable lessons. *Better yet, hopefully some
other newbies here learn the lesson from you without having to repeat it
themselves. *Thanks for sharing the story.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"