On Jan 26, 2:18*pm, wrote:
On Jan 26, 12:50*pm, Dudley Henriques wrote:

wrote:
I'm sorry if I gave anyone the impression that I was not concerned for
the safety of others. *I am familiar with the area we were in, but I
made a serious mistake at night. *I do appreciate all the options you
all have laid out for me. *I will fill out the NASA form immediately..
And why on Earth would someone put my name in the thread? *That just
seems uncalled for.

It WAS uncalled for, and could in fact actually be a clearly defined
detrimental act to flight safety.

I agree that the poster's full name should not have been disclosed--
especially in all caps, as if to rub it in.

On the other hand, it's of no practical consequence. Anyone looking at
the email address would guess that the poster's name is R. Faulkiner,
and the FAA online database--which is presumably where Larry looked up
his information--lists only two such pilots, the other of whom has a
commercial certificate. But the FAA doesn't mine r.a.p. in search of
violations, and filing an ASRS form will provide protection in any
event.

I'm still a little concerned that the poster might not realize that he
didn't just make an isolated mistake of possibly busting Class C, but
rather made a few ongoing mistakes leading up to that--failing to
verify his heading every minute or so (off by 45 degrees until way off
course), following the line on the GPS screen instead of actively
navigating, and failing to adequately brief and supervise his
passenger. If this was his first night XC without an instructor, it
should probably have been solo rather than taking on the extra
responsibility and distraction of a passenger. I offer these comments
not as disparagements, but as constructive criticisms. It just seems
like a generally higher degree of caution and conservative decision-
making may be called for, to avoid getting in over your head.

Again, good luck!

I appreciate your criticism and I do realize that I made a lot of
mistakes from the moment I took off. This experience made me more
aware of my responsibilities as a PIC, and I will be a lot more
prepared from now on when I fly.