Flight Crew Private; Flight Crew Instrument
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 21; Flight Crew Total 488; Flight Crew Type 100
Time Pressure; Confusion; Human-Machine Interface
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Inflight Event / Encounter VFR In IMC; Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT
Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance; Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance; Flight Crew Became Reoriented; Flight Crew Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification
Weather; Human Factors
When ferrying my airplane to EDC I elected to make the short hop VFR. Weather at [departure] was marginal but improving with ceilings 1;100 ft broken being reported by ground before taxiing out. I had been at EDC about 45 minutes earlier in my car and observed that the ceiling was 800 ft at that time. KEDC is class G at the surface so I expected to be able to get in with class G VFR minimums.After takeoff from; the ceiling quickly deteriorated as I got closer to EDC. I elected to press on but soon found myself dangerously low and receiving multiple obstacle alerts from my GPS. Rather than risk hitting an obstacle I executed a climbing turn at a high pitch angle to clear the terrain as quickly as possible. This immediately put me into IMC in class E without a clearance or flight plan. I continued my climb northbound to remain clear of any airspace until I broke out of the clouds around 2;800 ft. I then leveled off and called Austin approach for a popup clearance to execute the RNAV 13 approach into EDC. I received my clearance and completed the remainder of the flight without incident.I should have checked the weather at EDC again immediately before taking off since I knew it was marginal. Calling the AWOS would have informed me that the ceilings were too low to fly VFR. Knowing that; I should have either waited for the clouds to lift; or filed IFR from the outset. My get-there-itis stopped me from making the prudent decision of entering the system.I also waited too long to make the decision to turn around. I should have turned around as soon as it was clear the clouds were starting to lower. I pressed on hoping they would improve which pushed me dangerously low and forcing me to climb in IMC without a clearance. Turning around earlier would have allowed me to get a clearance before entering IMC.
M20 pilot reported flying into IMC conditions while trying to fly beneath a low overcast layer.