On Jan 27, 6:38*am, 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.

I'm not yet a pilot, but it sounds like you were acting as if you were
flying IFR -how else could you be thrown off course by the GPS? I've
not done my night rating work but I've been told that flying VFR at
night requires constant attention to lights, compass heading(s)/
bearings and gloomy shadows to know your position. I think the GPS
should be considered to be only an aid for VFR pilots, not the primary
navigation tool (which is eyes, brain and chart) and if I am right in
my student pilot opinion, the autopilot should be slaved to compass
and position checked by GPS -not dictated by GPS (until you are IFR).
I would welcome more experienced pilots to comment on this -should a
VFR pilot slave the autopilot to GPS or compass?

You started a good thread here and it's great that you admit your
mistake for us to learn from it.

Cheers