M-20 R Ovation
Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Private
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 50; Flight Crew Total 700; Flight Crew Type 200
Situational Awareness
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence
Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance; Flight Crew Became Reoriented; Flight Crew Overcame Equipment Problem; Flight Crew Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification
Aircraft; Weather
I encountered icing conditions in my Mooney; which was not FIKI (Flight Into Known Icing) equipped. I had obtained a weather briefing via flightplan.com and knew of an icing airmet. I believed that I would be able to stay below the cloud layer until clear of clouds and then climb in VMC to an altitude where the temperatures were cold enough that icing would not occur. The clouds were lower and more pervasive than I realized from my weather briefing and I found myself picking up trace ice at around 10;000 MSL. I informed ATC and with their assistance determined that a climb to 16;000 MSL would likely get me out of icing conditions. I immediately began a climb and was soon in temperatures well below freezing and out of the icing conditions.I think my flight into icing was caused by my misinterpreting the satellite weather depiction as being the only places where there were clouds or clouds with moisture significant enough to cause icing. That is clearly not the case.I fault myself for misinterpreting the weather briefing and for not making a no-go decision solely on the basis of the icing airmet. That would have been the prudent thing to do.I credit myself for immediately informing ATC and seeking their assistance to plan an escape from the icing conditions.
M20R pilot reported entering icing conditions without anti-deicing equipment.