Narrative:

Departed san luis obispo heading south along the coast. Was in a warning area and confused the chart markings with the restr area. I then turned east to get clear of what I thought was a restr area, which actually took me into the true restr area R2517. If I would have continued south I would have remained in the warning area, but the same chart symbols are used to identify both the warning area and restr area. During this confusion, I decided to turn east to exit the area, which put me on a heading that crossed the restr area R2517. My turn to the east was driven by my confusion of the chart symbology. If the warning area was depicted differently (different color?) I wouldn't have confused it for a restr area and wouldn't have turned east to exit the area and wouldn't have crossed any restr airspace.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: BE76 PLT FLEW IN R2517 WITHOUT CLRNC.

Narrative: DEPARTED SAN LUIS OBISPO HDG S ALONG THE COAST. WAS IN A WARNING AREA AND CONFUSED THE CHART MARKINGS WITH THE RESTR AREA. I THEN TURNED E TO GET CLR OF WHAT I THOUGHT WAS A RESTR AREA, WHICH ACTUALLY TOOK ME INTO THE TRUE RESTR AREA R2517. IF I WOULD HAVE CONTINUED S I WOULD HAVE REMAINED IN THE WARNING AREA, BUT THE SAME CHART SYMBOLS ARE USED TO IDENT BOTH THE WARNING AREA AND RESTR AREA. DURING THIS CONFUSION, I DECIDED TO TURN E TO EXIT THE AREA, WHICH PUT ME ON A HDG THAT CROSSED THE RESTR AREA R2517. MY TURN TO THE E WAS DRIVEN BY MY CONFUSION OF THE CHART SYMBOLOGY. IF THE WARNING AREA WAS DEPICTED DIFFERENTLY (DIFFERENT COLOR?) I WOULDN'T HAVE CONFUSED IT FOR A RESTR AREA AND WOULDN'T HAVE TURNED E TO EXIT THE AREA AND WOULDN'T HAVE CROSSED ANY RESTR AIRSPACE.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.