PA-28 Cherokee/Archer/Dakota/Pillan/Warrior
Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Private
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 65; Flight Crew Total 250; Flight Crew Type 10
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence
Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance; Flight Crew Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification
Aircraft; Weather; Human Factors
I was renting a Piper Arrow II for personal pleasure purposes with two of my friends. The aircraft was supposed to be IFR certified and equipped with VOR and ILS receivers. Prior to departure...; I performed a VOT check and found out the VOR was about 10 degrees off. Thus I treated it as Inop. The weather was nice night VFR; and we flew to ZZZ1 for a meal. Prior to departure; I checked the AWOS and it's indicating broken at 2;100 FT MSL. Since it's still MVFR; and I didn't need instrument approaches; I decided to takeoff and fly at 1;500 FT into ZZZ2 Class C airspace. While in the air; the weather looked a lot better than what [was] reported; so I climbed to 2;100 FT; which is a typical approach altitude during many of my training flights. Once the two-way communication was established; ZZZ2 Approach asked me to climb to 2;600 FT. Quickly after; I saw a thick layer of clouds coming towards me. So I called Approach and told them unable to maintain VFR. They told me to descend to 2;100 FT. It [was] fine for a while; and shortly after I noticed a thin layer of clouds coming towards us. A couple of minutes after; clouds got worse.... I noticed the ground started to fade out. I realized it's a VFR flight into IMC situation. First thing I wanted to do was to notify ATC. But at the time there [was] an airliner on the frequency talking; I was waiting for him to finish. But even before he finished; we got into solid IMC.  I decided to deviate from ATC assigned altitude; and climbed up in the hope to get out of the clouds. The reason for climbing up instead of [descending] is that I knew [there were] some obstructions down below; and at night in MVFR it might be hard to see them.  Before I got into the clouds; I could see somehow the layer was not thick. So I believed it would be a quick climb out before we could get out of the clouds. And I was right. We were out of the clouds at 2;400 FT; only a 300 foot climb. At that time; I kept climbing to 2;600 FT; and looked down; it's a solid overcast layer. I could see nothing on the ground at all. So I was flying a plane without any instrument approach equipment except for a VOR that's way off. I looked at the fuel gauges and concluded around 1 hour of flight. So flying around or deviating to another airport might not be a good choice. I knew from my instrument training that ZZZ2 has ASR approach; so I decided to give it a try. I notified Approach; asked for an IFR clearance; and ASR approach.... They gave me a squawk code and began the ASR procedures. They said only ASR they could give me was either to Runway 7L; or descend below to 1;600 FT for Runway 16. Based [on] my last known location; I thought it's going to take longer to land on 16; and 7L is a lot longer runway in case my landing wasn't great due to the gusty wind; extra length would really help. So I asked for 7L landing. I believe they initially thought it's a training activity; so they said in case of loss of radio comm; proceed to ILS 7L. I said no; we didn't have the equipment for ILS. They then gave me RNAV 7L. I said unable. And they asked me what I could do. I was so scared that I was in violation that I got into IMC without instrument approach equipment; because although [I] had a VOR; it [was] unreliable. So I told them I might be able to do a VOR approach; even though I really could do none. They said OK; expect VOR 16 if lost comm. They gave me a MDA of 480 FT; missed approach point is beginning of runway threshold; and look for airport. When I had the airport and runway in sight; I notified ATC and they cleared me for visual approach into 7L. After some minor course correction; I was lined up with runway; and approach told me to contact Tower. I thanked them for the help; and that's about it.
PA28 pilot on a night VFR flight encountered IMC and requested an ASR approach due to faulty navigation equipment.