PA-23 Apache/Geronimo Apache
Flight Crew Flight Engineer; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Flight Instructor; Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Instrument
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 180; Flight Crew Total 15000; Flight Crew Type 30
Distraction; Fatigue; Situational Awareness
Deviation - Altitude Overshoot; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance
Air Traffic Control Issued Advisory / Alert; Flight Crew Became Reoriented; Flight Crew Returned To Clearance
Human Factors
While being vectored for ILS 31 WDR I was given a descent to 3000 ft prior to the final intercept vector for the ILS. The aircraft is fairly new to me (about 30 hours in type of mostly cross country flying). I became preoccupied with verifying the correct setup of the electronic HSI in the aircraft for the approach i.e. switching from an enroute map mode to a more traditional HSI mode. Unfortunately this distraction caused me to descend further than desired resulting in my noticing my unintended descent at approximately 2400 ft. I immediately corrected back to 3000 and was then informed by ATC that they had lost me on radar but now had me back and issued a turn to intercept final. I have no idea at what altitude or location they lost me and they never questioned the altitude. The subsequent turn to final was not the prettiest due to my now slightly rattled mindset however I did become stabilized on the final approach course after a few zigs and zags and before beginning my descent on the glideslope. I broke out fairly shortly after passing the outer marker; cancelled IFR and landed uneventfully. Being as to how I take pride in trying to hold my flying the highest level this distraction/combined with an unknown ATC reaction caused me to mentally kick myself quite a bit which led to some lack of sleep that night. Given my familiarity with the geographic area and general situational awareness I was not really overly concerned with this level of altitude deviation from a safety standpoint (although had this occurred elsewhere I would have been much more concerned). I suspect this particular occurrence will not happen again as I gain familiarity with the aircraft; not to mention my injured pride will help sharpen my concentration.However the bigger general problem with operating in the ATC environment is never quite knowing their side from an enforcement standpoint; I.E. 'Am I in trouble here' or simply 'apology accepted don't worry about it; press on'. You generally never really know to what degree the controller (or his/her supervisor) will escalate any given event. I have many years of good luck operating in the system and they are generally good people but a little more transparency wouldn't hurt.
PA23 pilot reported distractions led to overshooting their cleared altitude on approach to WDR.