Narrative:

My employer and I departed VFR in an aircraft our company just acquired to ferry it to our home base. We were concerned about arriving back [home] after sunset; not wanting to land an unfamiliar airplane at night after a long cross country flight; so I felt rushed in preparing to depart. I filed an IFR flight plan via foreflight prior to departure; received an expected route; and entered it into the aircraft avionics (garmin perspective system) prior to takeoff. A local CFI advised us to depart VFR; proceed southbound; and pick up our IFR clearance enroute; so we did. I engaged the autopilot in heading mode on approximately 180 heading and set it to climb to our planned cruising altitude of 11;000 feet. I knew we were clear of the nearby class C airspace at that point. My employer; an instrument rated private pilot; was in the right seat but not handling the controls. Either he or I (I cannot recall which) brought up the 'climb' checklist on the mfd. Although we operate three aircraft in our fleet with G1000 systems; neither of us were very familiar with the checklist function; and neither of us have significant time in this make and model. This was my third flight in the type; and I had only about three hours in it at that time; mostly doing pattern work learning to land it. We did not have the moving map display up; and I did not have a chart in view (current charts were aboard in foreflight on my ipad and iphone; but neither were in view in this phase of flight). Shortly after initiating the climb; I selected 'direct to' our initial waypoint and set the autopilot into navigation mode to track us there as we climbed. We completed the climb checklist in the system and figured out how to exit it to map view. I realized then I had entered the class C airspace in the climb. Flustered; I disengaged the autopilot; reduced power and turned west to exit the airspace as quickly as possible while tuning the approach frequency. Once clear of the charlie airspace; I turned roughly south again and contacted approach for our IFR clearance.in departing near class C airspace without a navigation chart or moving map in view; I lost situational awareness while trying to figure out complicated and unfamiliar avionics in an equally complicated and unfamiliar aircraft and area. Realizing that lapse in awareness could have been catastrophic to other pilots and their passengers shook and humbled me. I should have spent more time on the ground gaining familiarity with the various mfd functions and screens before departing; and at the very least should have had my navigation charts in view to confirm my location prior to entering controlled airspace. I should also have briefed our route to my employer; paying particular attention to nearby airspace; to ensure all pilots aboard were considering airspace and necessary procedures as a backup.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: SR22 pilot reported an airspace incursion occurred as a result of his unfamiliarity with the installed Garmin Perspective system.

Narrative: My employer and I departed VFR in an aircraft our company just acquired to ferry it to our home base. We were concerned about arriving back [home] after sunset; not wanting to land an unfamiliar airplane at night after a long cross country flight; so I felt rushed in preparing to depart. I filed an IFR flight plan via ForeFlight prior to departure; received an expected route; and entered it into the aircraft avionics (Garmin Perspective system) prior to takeoff. A local CFI advised us to depart VFR; proceed southbound; and pick up our IFR clearance enroute; so we did. I engaged the autopilot in heading mode on approximately 180 heading and set it to climb to our planned cruising altitude of 11;000 feet. I knew we were clear of the nearby Class C airspace at that point. My employer; an instrument rated private pilot; was in the right seat but not handling the controls. Either he or I (I cannot recall which) brought up the 'Climb' checklist on the MFD. Although we operate three aircraft in our fleet with G1000 systems; neither of us were very familiar with the checklist function; and neither of us have significant time in this make and model. This was my third flight in the type; and I had only about three hours in it at that time; mostly doing pattern work learning to land it. We did not have the moving map display up; and I did not have a chart in view (current charts were aboard in ForeFlight on my iPad and iPhone; but neither were in view in this phase of flight). Shortly after initiating the climb; I selected 'Direct To' our initial waypoint and set the autopilot into NAV mode to track us there as we climbed. We completed the climb checklist in the system and figured out how to exit it to map view. I realized then I had entered the Class C airspace in the climb. Flustered; I disengaged the autopilot; reduced power and turned west to exit the airspace as quickly as possible while tuning the approach frequency. Once clear of the Charlie airspace; I turned roughly south again and contacted approach for our IFR clearance.In departing near Class C airspace without a navigation chart or moving map in view; I lost situational awareness while trying to figure out complicated and unfamiliar avionics in an equally complicated and unfamiliar aircraft and area. Realizing that lapse in awareness could have been catastrophic to other pilots and their passengers shook and humbled me. I should have spent more time on the ground gaining familiarity with the various MFD functions and screens before departing; and at the very least should have had my navigation charts in view to confirm my location prior to entering controlled airspace. I should also have briefed our route to my employer; paying particular attention to nearby airspace; to ensure all pilots aboard were considering airspace and necessary procedures as a backup.

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.