PA-28 Cherokee/Archer/Dakota/Pillan/Warrior
Flight Crew Private
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 20; Flight Crew Total 298; Flight Crew Type 224
Training / Qualification; Time Pressure; Situational Awareness; Distraction
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence; Inflight Event / Encounter VFR In IMC
Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance; Flight Crew Took Evasive Action; Flight Crew Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification; Flight Crew Landed As Precaution; Flight Crew Diverted; General Flight Cancelled / Delayed
Human Factors; Weather
Departed ZZZ. The airport tower was closed. Was unable to request special VFR. I wanted to get as far as ZZZ1 and ZZZ2 for the night closer to home as Lake City forecasted rain all week. I would have been able to have a friend pick me up at ZZZ1 which was closer to home.The local TAF was reporting 500 ft. ceilings; but the route to ZZZ1 was all MVFR conditions between 1;200 ft. at ZZZ1 and 2;300 ft. at ZZZ3 reported along the entire route starting approximately 10 miles north of Lake City; FL.It appeared that the automated system at ZZZ was possibly sitting in the vicinity of a low cloud bank because as I was standing outside the FBO I could look North and see at least 1;000 ft. of ceilings by gauging the tops of 500+ ft. towers in the vicinity. Additionally; my flight planning identified all towers & obstacles along my route of flight whereas none where more than 600 ft. MSL. I developed a route on my G430 and iPad (Foreflight) that would keep me at least 5 NMs away from any obstacles. I also did not receive a weather brief prior to departure because my destination was only 50 NM away.As I headed north approximately 20 miles I was able to maintain 1;000 ft. with MVFR conditions as reported. Then; rapidly; the ceilings dropped as I was flying northbound to ZZZ1. I assumed at the time it was due to the swamps I was crossing over. I mistakenly started descending on the assumption that the low ceilings I encountered would only be a few miles since all the weather tools I utilized were forecasting MVFR along my entire route.As I dipped to approximately 500 ft. MSL I looked all around and saw where it was a 300-500 ft. ceiling in all directions. I elected to NOT make a 180 and turn back because I feared I would hit terrain or an obstacle. I made a command decision to immediately climb to 2;500 ft. in IMC. My aircraft is current on Part 91 IFR certification. I have about 15 hours of IFR training; shoot multiple practice approaches weekly; and have a home simulator that I have logged several hours in IMC flight. I knew that continued flight at 300-500 ft. would ultimately lead to controlled flight into terrain.I leveled off at 2;500 ft. to stay below any IFR traffic above and started making my ATC calls. I attempted to call Atlanta Center but assumed I was too far out for them. I made contact with JAX Center and stated I needed some assistance; but the controller told me to stand by as she was assisting another pilot in trouble. Fortunately; another pilot overheard me and suggested I switch to another frequency he gave me to coordinate help. I asked the pilot to communicate weather at ZZZ4 to me; as I have practiced dozens of mock approaches on the RNAV to Runway XX. He stated ceilings were 1;200 ft. at ZZZ4 so I elected to maintain 2;500 ft. (Minimum area safe altitude) to prevent a decent into terrain. I also elected not to try to make ZZZ1 or anywhere else because I had complete control of the aircraft; only memorized the approaches to ZZZ4; and have not had enough experience/training/knowledge of flying an approach into anywhere else.As I came to within 10 NM of ZZZ5 (approximately 12 miles from ZZZ4) I was able to look down and see large portions of ground terrain. I know all obstacles between ZZZ5 and ZZZ4 so I was confident for a descent back down to MVFR. I leveled off at 1;400 ft. and flew MVFR the remainder of the flight landing safely into ZZZ4.I spent the day reflecting on all the poor aeronautical decisions I made that day. First; NEVER trust TAFs or local weather reports without setting personal minimums of at least 500 ft. greater then reported ceilings as a personal buffer for errors in weather reporting. Second; NEVER try to interpolate en-route conditions between reporting stations as weather can be significantly more adverse between non-reported stations. Third; NEVER depart an airport in less than MVFR current conditions so you can safely return if weather deteriorates.Lastly; I personally feel that ALL pilots should have significantly more IFR training above the 3-hour minimum for the PPL. I spent the last year studying IFR procedures (Scan; Partial panel; approach plates; etc); spent multiple hours on a simulator in IMC; had about 15 hours in-seat hood time; shot dozens of mock approaches at home; remembered the JFK Junior story; the 188 seconds to live video; and tried to learn everything I could about the number one killer of VFR pilots...'VFR into IFR conditions' and ensured I could do the bare minimum to survive and get myself out of trouble if I came upon it. These were the only things that saved my life this dayI also learned that IMC trouble didn't find me as I always feared it might. In this case; I found it and made multiple poor decisions that contributed to this.
PA28 Pilot reported a string of self-described 'poor aeronautical decisions' that resulted in VFR flight into IMC.