Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172
Flight Crew Private
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 12; Flight Crew Total 221; Flight Crew Type 20
Confusion; Physiological - Other; Situational Awareness; Training / Qualification
Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor; Inflight Event / Encounter Other / Unknown
Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance
Environment - Non Weather Related; Human Factors
I was flying a VFR cross country to ZZZ. After an uneventful flight I smelled fumes in the cockpit approximately 5 minutes before landing. I contacted the tower and advised them of a small issue on board and that I would like to land as soon as practical. The fumes started making me dizzy and I got disoriented. I notified tower of my disorientation and they vectored me to land. They later switched me to a different runway; so I could make a straight in approach. Once I was situated on final I made a normal landing on runway XX and taxied to the FBO where I shutdown and vented the aircraft.I believe contributing factors to the incident events was an unfamiliarity with the airport I was flying into. While I had an airport diagram on board and had studied the airport layout in my pre-flight planning I was unfamiliar with the various landmarks around the airport. Had I been more familiar with those landmarks I believe I would not have been disoriented. ATC's vectors helped get me oriented to the point I could make a normal landing. In the future I could be quicker to notify ATC of any issues. The second I started feeling dizzy from the fumes I should have told the Tower that we had fumes in the cockpit and I was feeling dizzy. This could have prevented the disorientation that followed. I also should have opened my cabin windows the second I smelled fumes to get cross ventilation. I also should not have been afraid of declaring an emergency if I felt the situation warranted it. I believe that this incident was a learning experience for me and I have learned steps to mitigate these issues in the future.
C172 pilot reported cockpit fumes causing dizziness prior to landing.