Narrative:

On a day VFR flight to apa I was using a new GPS program on an apple ipad for real-time GPS navigation backup while I flew VFR in an area I thought I knew particularly well and have flown in and around since 1991. While following us highway 85 southbound at 6;500 ft MSL; I failed to notice the 120/60 altitude restriction printed on the chart (printed to the northeast of the brighton van-aire airport on the moving map VFR chart) as I didn't have the map centered on my current location and had scrolled it manually too far west; and accidentally clipped the corner of the denver class bravo airspace just north of the town of brighton; co (depicted on the chart as the cut-out defined by the den 318 degree radial) while keeping the highway just to the west of the aircraft. (The track was basically along the railroad tracks depicted on the VFR chart between the towns of ft. Lupton; co and brighton; co.) my intention (having flown in this airspace most of my life) was to fly around this 'corner' to the west and then proceed southbound underneath the 120/70 depicted airspace near the town of henderson; co. During the time frame of the corner being cut; I was looking off to the east; trying to see the brighton van-aire private airport from the air; as I have never landed there. A contributing factor was that I was also thinking about the railroad line; because a long-deceased family member used to work for the railroad near brighton many years ago and thinking what a privilege it was to fly along the railroad tracks versus ride a train. Both pilot distraction and mistaken familiarity with the airspace and landmarks; led [me] to this inadvertent deviation into the cut-out 1;000 ft lower area of class bravo airspace at the corner. I dove the airplane somewhat aggressively to 6;000 ft MSL upon realizing the mistake and made a slight west turn; at which point I had exited the 6;000 ft lower area; climbing back to 6;800 ft MSL near the town of brighton. Proper use of the navigation software would have allowed setting of a specific waypoint easily for a more definitive turn point around the corner of class bravo airspace; and would have allowed for a 'buffer' distance for any navigational mistakes when referencing outside landmarks; pilot distraction; etc; in other words; better flight planning. Additionally; a review of the course; and better pilotage via review of landmarks along the path to apa would have also negated the need for the GPS altogether for this particular flight. Us highway 85 is a good landmark to follow as long as one has reviewed that it intersects class bravo and has made the appropriate plans to go further west prior to reaching the town of brighton before making a south-bound turn; and the ft. Lupton; co to northglenn; co portion of the flight must be made significantly west of the highway; or even considering moving over to follow interstate 25 southbound; which I have done many times in the past; successfully. Another technique would have been to request VFR services from den TRACON for this flight and clearance into the class bravo airspace; which I normally do for almost all of my cross-country flights; but this day I did not due to not wanting to be distracted by the radio chatter while trying out the new GPS software on the ipad device. Ironically I was monitoring their frequency at the time of the incursion out of habit; having tuned and monitored without a call-up; only completing half of the process by specifically not contacting den TRACON for VFR traffic advisories/services. In the future; I will be returning to my usual habit of immediately requesting VFR services when flying cross-country flights near busy controlled airspace.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A single engine pilot navigating VFR using landmarks and an iPad with GPS navigation software flew into a corner of DEN Class B airspace when he got distracted and did not have the software scrolled to the Class B in his area.

Narrative: On a day VFR flight to APA I was using a new GPS program on an Apple iPad for real-time GPS navigation backup while I flew VFR in an area I thought I knew particularly well and have flown in and around since 1991. While following US Highway 85 southbound at 6;500 FT MSL; I failed to notice the 120/60 altitude restriction printed on the chart (printed to the northeast of the Brighton Van-Aire airport on the moving map VFR chart) as I didn't have the map centered on my current location and had scrolled it manually too far west; and accidentally clipped the corner of the Denver Class Bravo airspace just north of the town of Brighton; CO (depicted on the chart as the cut-out defined by the DEN 318 degree radial) while keeping the highway just to the west of the aircraft. (The track was basically along the railroad tracks depicted on the VFR chart between the towns of Ft. Lupton; CO and Brighton; CO.) My intention (having flown in this airspace most of my life) was to fly around this 'corner' to the west and then proceed southbound underneath the 120/70 depicted airspace near the town of Henderson; CO. During the time frame of the corner being cut; I was looking off to the east; trying to see the Brighton Van-Aire private airport from the air; as I have never landed there. A contributing factor was that I was also thinking about the railroad line; because a long-deceased family member used to work for the Railroad near Brighton many years ago and thinking what a privilege it was to fly along the railroad tracks versus ride a train. Both pilot distraction and mistaken familiarity with the airspace and landmarks; led [me] to this inadvertent deviation into the cut-out 1;000 FT lower area of Class Bravo airspace at the corner. I dove the airplane somewhat aggressively to 6;000 FT MSL upon realizing the mistake and made a slight west turn; at which point I had exited the 6;000 FT lower area; climbing back to 6;800 FT MSL near the town of Brighton. Proper use of the navigation software would have allowed setting of a specific waypoint easily for a more definitive turn point around the corner of Class Bravo airspace; and would have allowed for a 'buffer' distance for any navigational mistakes when referencing outside landmarks; pilot distraction; etc; in other words; better flight planning. Additionally; a review of the course; and better pilotage via review of landmarks along the path to APA would have also negated the need for the GPS altogether for this particular flight. US Highway 85 is a good landmark to follow as long as one has reviewed that it intersects Class Bravo and has made the appropriate plans to go further west prior to reaching the town of Brighton before making a south-bound turn; and the Ft. Lupton; CO to Northglenn; CO portion of the flight must be made significantly west of the highway; or even considering moving over to follow Interstate 25 southbound; which I have done many times in the past; successfully. Another technique would have been to request VFR services from DEN TRACON for this flight and clearance into the Class Bravo airspace; which I normally do for almost all of my cross-country flights; but this day I did not due to not wanting to be distracted by the radio chatter while trying out the new GPS software on the iPad device. Ironically I was monitoring their frequency at the time of the incursion out of habit; having tuned and monitored without a call-up; only completing half of the process by specifically not contacting DEN TRACON for VFR traffic advisories/services. In the future; I will be returning to my usual habit of immediately requesting VFR services when flying cross-country flights near busy controlled airspace.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.