milky

Did you not have a VFR chart?

johnso29

My second solo cross country I violated Class B airspace(I had to make a call when I got on the ground at my first airport...it sucked), then I crossed an active runway without a clearance at my second airport. I was having a really bad day. Fortunately I had really nice controllers that day. No violations on the old student pilot certificate. I have also gotten lost several times, not just as a student pilot, but also as a flight instructor. It happens to everyone. Try not to rely on VORs, get used to good ole dead reckoning and pilotage. VORs may be out of service, and you may have forgotten to check the NOTAMs. Don't get discouraged, I'm sure the next time you'll do great.

PhantomAir

Carrying a handheld GPS unit with you on cross country flights is never a bad idea either. Mark all your checkpoints on it in advance. Makes life much easier. (that is, of course, if you don't already have a /G equipped airplane.

The good thing about a handheld though, is that you can mark lakes and other landmarks on it.

Bug Smasher

I try to plan my VFR stuff so I end up lined up with the runway .. I have to keep an eye out for departing traffic, but I find airports are a lot easier to identify if you're aligned with the runway. Heck, the strip I live on has tall trees on either side; you can't see it until you're right over it if approaching from 90 degrees to the runway.

If you're ever unsure which airport you landed at, act like you know where you are, then walk inside the FBO and ask for a phone book. That'll usually tell you where you are. :-D

LeoSV

I too got lost on my first X-C, and I started to panic and it made it worse. I calmed down and just kept checking my sectional with landmarks. After that flight, I knew that my problem was getting too comfortable and not preparing for decent and approach. Even at 6000ft, you still need to stay ahead of the plane and the flight plan. But lesson learned. That's why it's so important to learn from your mistakes, because nothing beats a lesson into your head faster than some fear.

blastoff

Even flying in the airlines you'll occasionally fly a visual approach, and the sooner you can report "field in sight" the better. I've used the same techniques since my C152 days...airports in the mountains are usually on a noticeable flat spot, airports in bigger cities usually appear as a hole in the concrete jungle, airports in cities big and small sometimes have an industrial park nearby (warehouses and such), cities that have airports out in the boondocks usually have a lonely road going out to the boondocks to a bunch of buildings seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

b18onboost

Like PhantomAir said, a handheld GPS wouldn't hurt. I got lost on my long x/c when I was doing my private too. The airport I was supposed to go to was an uncontrolled airport but instead I ventured into an airport with a class D airspace. You should see the look on my face when I saw a tower on the horizon. I was like when did they put that darn thing there. Well lucky for me I wasn't inside the airspace yet so I just turned around and used my GPS (i was doing pilotage).

saabguy493

Just don't get lost when you are IFR though, that is looked down upon.

Zero1Niner

Very soon after I got my private (within a few days), I took a short CC to pick up a nephew from an airport that I had never been to. Somehow I got off course and found myself wondering around looking for familiar landmarks, but I couldnt find a single thing that I could identify. I was starting to get nervous because I knew is was in the vicinity of the Baltimore Class Bravo, and didnt want to bust the airspace, so I started flying a tight circle, dialed in the 1st approach freq for BWI that I could find on the chart and confessed my sin of being lost to the controller. They had me enter a squawk and ident, found me on the screen, asked for the identifier of the airport I was headed for, and vectored me all the way until I had the airport in sight. The controllers were completely understanding, very accommodating, and really saved my bacon that day.

Pilotpip

I was doing a solo cross country, thinking I was doing just fine when this conversation took place:

Center: "Tampico 123, where are you going again?"
Me: "I'm going to Jefferson City"
Center: "Turn 40 degrees right, NOW you're going to Jefferson City"

I always got flight following after this, and made my students get it as well. You're going to be a pro pilot, you might as well get used to using the radio. There are so many good reasons to utilize flight following and not a single reason not to.