Amateur/Home Built/Experimental
Flight Crew Private
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 30; Flight Crew Total 950; Flight Crew Type 95
Confusion; Situational Awareness
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence; Inflight Event / Encounter VFR In IMC; Inflight Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control
Aircraft Equipment Problem Dissipated; Flight Crew Took Evasive Action; Flight Crew Regained Aircraft Control
Human Factors; Weather; Aircraft
Departed VFR eastbound intending to fly under the band of clouds and rain ahead of me. Contacted Approach for flight following. Made it most of the way across the approximately 30 mile band of rain when the ceiling dropped to zero and I became trapped in a small hole. I began to orbit above the trees at approximately 500 AGL. With no option to land; and believing there was clear weather just a few miles to the east; I turned back on course to ZZZZZ intersection; engaged the autopilot and initiated a climb in IMC. Shortly after starting the climb I encountered heavy rain and nearly immediately the remote compass (magnetometer) failed and I lost heading and OAT/TAS information on the Dynon D10A EFIS. Shortly after that; while still climbing through heavy rain; the airspeed indication failed; apparently due to water ingestion at the pitot-tube. Failure of airspeed caused the autopilot to disconnect; so I took over hand flying the aircraft using the artificial horizon display on the Dynon; rate of climb indication on the standard analog indicator; ground speed and course information on the Garmin GTN650. While still climbing in heavy rain at approximately 6;500 feet AGL; the Dynon screen failed completely; removing my only source of attitude indication as well as the turn/slip indicator. Attempts to climb on course failed and within seconds the aircraft started a descent; and airspeed (GPS ground speed) started rising rapidly. Recognizing that I was in a classic 'death spiral'; I pulled the throttle to idle applied brief left aileron to counteract the known slight right roll tendency of this aircraft and attempted to raise the nose. This action failed; however; and the rate of descent continued at the indicator's maximum of 4000 FPM and GPS ground speed showed 240 knots and rising. I continued to pull the stick and continued to tighten the spiral. I was watching the altimeter unwind and prepared to catch a brief glimpse of the ground and hopefully effect a recovery before impact. The G loading was great enough to cause a grey out condition and I was losing vision. I exited the clouds at approximately 750 AGL in 45 degrees of left bank and 30 degrees nose down and was able to effect a recovery. The analog G meter showed 6 g's positive. I continued to orbit in an approximately 1 mile diameter area under the 750 foot ceiling with clouds down to ground level all around. Shortly; the EFIS screen returned however the airspeed and AOA indications were corrupt and unusable. With no other options; I once again initiated a climb approximately on course but trying to avoid the dark areas and the rain. At one point during the climb at approximately 13;500 AGL; the aircraft stalled and I attempted recovery with a sharp stick forward movement. I broke the stall; however had a secondary stall when attempting to return to the climb. I failed to notice my GPS ground speed was indicating less than 60 knots. I recovered more aggressively with a deep nose down movement until the aircraft was clearly flying again and continued to climb on course. At approximately 15;200 feet I noticed light ice accumulation at the base of the windshield and the ailerons becoming 'sticky' with higher than normal breakout force around neutral. I contacted ATC to assess if I would be able to climb out the top; and I was told another aircraft near my position was still IMC and icing at 17;500 feet. I then initiated a descent to lower altitude on course and eventually broke out to VMC. The remainder of the flight was without incident. I was led to believe that I could make this flight VMC by prior success; and underestimated the true scope of this particular weather system. I was equipped with ADS-B weather information on a tablet and multiple GPS assets; however the decision to continue too far into a situation to backtrack was the primary failure. Secondary considerations were the multiple equipment failures; including the only means of attitude indication on board the aircraft. I was in constant contact with ATC; but did not declare an emergency because I did not believe they could help me. I knew where the closest airport was and I was capable of navigating there with equipment on board; I also knew where the clear weather was; but was unsure if the attitude indication would remain functional long enough to penetrate IMC. I made ATC aware that I was IMC and not instrument rated; I felt that they were able to provide separation with other aircraft. Had I believed ATC could provide more help if I declared an emergency; I would have done so. I believe the various controllers performed excellently; and were a source of great comfort to me in this stressful situation.
Experimental aircraft pilot reports entering IMC during a VFR flight. Believing clear weather lies ahead; the non-instrument rated pilot initiates a climb in that direction until loss of primary and secondary flight instruments at 6;500 feet results in loss of control. Descending below the cloud bases a recovery is initiated at 750 feet. The EFIS screen with attitude indicator becomes functional again and a second attempt to climb into VMC is successful.