C182 pilot reported entering charlie airspace without clearance due to a misunderstanding with ATC.

Attributes
ACN	1281908
Time
Date	201507
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	FMY.Airport
State Reference	FL
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Skylane 182/RG Turbo Skylane/RG
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Initial Climb
Flight Plan	None
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Private
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 10 Flight Crew Total 1521 Flight Crew Type 919
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Airspace Violation All Types Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Narrative:

This was my first trip into fmy. Departing kfmy; tower cleared me for takeoff on runway 23; on course; and I heard 'cleared through the charlie'. I read back the takeoff clearance and ended with 'cleared through the charlie'. Apparently; this was not correct. During climb out I turned on course after reaching 500 feet MSL and continued my climb on a heading of about 340 degrees. At approximately 1;500 MSL; tower called me for entering the class charlie and told me to descend immediately below 1;200 feet MSL. I complied immediately with a descent to 1;000 feet MSL. After clearing the class D airspace for fmy; tower advised 'frequency change approved'.my mistake for entering the class C at 1;200 feet MSL; but I heard and read back what I thought was a clearance through the class C. Looking at the chart at the time of this event; I failed to recognize that I had not exited the class D outside of the class C overlap. Another 1.5 NM on my 340-350 degree heading would have avoided the intrusion.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C182 pilot reported entering Charlie airspace without clearance due to a misunderstanding with ATC.

Narrative: This was my first trip into FMY. Departing KFMY; Tower cleared me for takeoff on Runway 23; on course; and I heard 'cleared through the Charlie'. I read back the takeoff clearance and ended with 'cleared through the Charlie'. Apparently; this was not correct. During climb out I turned on course after reaching 500 feet MSL and continued my climb on a heading of about 340 degrees. At approximately 1;500 MSL; Tower called me for entering the Class Charlie and told me to descend immediately below 1;200 feet MSL. I complied immediately with a descent to 1;000 feet MSL. After clearing the Class D airspace for FMY; Tower advised 'frequency change approved'.My mistake for entering the Class C at 1;200 feet MSL; but I heard and read back what I thought was a clearance through the Class C. Looking at the chart at the time of this event; I failed to recognize that I had not exited the Class D outside of the Class C overlap. Another 1.5 NM on my 340-350 degree heading would have avoided the intrusion.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.