Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer
Flight Crew Student
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 15; Flight Crew Total 150; Flight Crew Type 34
Confusion; Situational Awareness
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Inflight Event / Encounter VFR In IMC
Flight Crew Became Reoriented
Weather
Arrived just after sunrise to ZZZ. Unable to takeoff due to poor visibility and light precipitation. Forecast for clear skies within 5 hrs. At [Time + 1hr] the fog had cleared and the ceiling had lifted to >1;000 feet AGL. Our flight of 2 paramotors launched from ZZZ and proceeded to climbout to the NW. Conditions continued to improve during the initial 30 minutes of the flight. The ceiling continued to break and the flight of 2 ascended through a large hole in the ceiling and was VFR on top for just over 5 minutes at 4;500 feet AGL. We stayed directly above our ascent hole and immediately adjacent to another hole. I watched my wingman begin a descent through the original hole and I began to follow with the notion that I had plenty of time to make my descent below the ceiling. As I began to reach the cloud tops; the hole closed rapidly in <10 seconds. I started towards my backup and it too closed. The lower paramotor was able to make it through the ceiling clear of clouds. I climbed with intention of finding another hole; but after approximately 20 min on top; I was unable to locate an opening to descend through and the next safe spot was well out of range even if I'd had max fuel. I utilized my phone's GPS navigation to ensure I was over the valley we took off from and to help ensure I was clear of terrain below and in front. I then powered back to idle and intentionally settled into the cloud layer in a descent of approximately 500 feet/minute starting at 4;500 feet AGL and ending at 1;200 feet AGL. I maintained course with my cell phone GPS and popped out of the clouds right where I was supposed to be. Navigated back to our launch site and landed without incident.
Paramotor pilot reported being stuck above an overcast layer and descending through the clouds to land.