Narrative:

Departed mry in VMC. Reported weather was 2;300 scattered/6;000 overcast. Blue sky visible to west and south. On climbout; realized I would be unable to maintain VFR; and advised TRACON. TRACON said unable altitude at current position. A short time later; I entered IMC and notified ATC. TRACON then gave me clearance to sns VOR and descent to 5;000 ft.I am IFR certified; current; with a recent instrument competency check and BFR as part of annual flight training in another aircraft. I had not recently flown the plane I was in; and was not prepared for instrument flight. After entering IMC; I had issues engaging the flight director and autopilot. On two occasions; I thought the autopilot was engaged; and turned my attention to setting up navigation and squawk codes (were changed twice during this period). I had substantial variation in heading from assigned heading; and delay in reaching assigned altitude. I estimate this period at 3 or 4 minutes before solving autopilot issues.I have been a licensed pilot for more than 40 years; and have never before entered IMC during a VFR flight. I departed this day VFR for two reasons: I was concerned about icing at altitudes required to file IFR (airplane was not certified for flight into known icing); and had departed from same airport numerous times; in what appeared to be similar conditions. When I entered IMC; I was not mentally prepared. I did not have navigation set up; and did not have flight director or autopilot engaged. In addition; I had not flown this airplane recently. The avionics and autopilot are significantly different than other planes I fly. I learned the stress of these factors diminished my ability to scan and fly the airplane while simultaneously dealing with TRACON; setting up navigation; and changing squawk codes. In the future; when departing VFR under marginal conditions; I will be prepared; both the airplane and mentally; for unforeseen conditions.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: General aviation pilot reported entering IMC on a VFR clearance; and subsequently deviated from ATC vectors; which were attributed to the lack of familiarity with aircraft avionics and mental preparedness for IFR flight.

Narrative: Departed MRY in VMC. Reported weather was 2;300 scattered/6;000 overcast. Blue sky visible to west and south. On climbout; realized I would be unable to maintain VFR; and advised TRACON. TRACON said unable altitude at current position. A short time later; I entered IMC and notified ATC. TRACON then gave me clearance to SNS VOR and descent to 5;000 ft.I am IFR certified; current; with a recent instrument competency check and BFR as part of annual flight training in another aircraft. I had not recently flown the plane I was in; and was not prepared for instrument flight. After entering IMC; I had issues engaging the flight director and autopilot. On two occasions; I thought the autopilot was engaged; and turned my attention to setting up navigation and squawk codes (were changed twice during this period). I had substantial variation in heading from assigned heading; and delay in reaching assigned altitude. I estimate this period at 3 or 4 minutes before solving autopilot issues.I have been a licensed pilot for more than 40 years; and have never before entered IMC during a VFR flight. I departed this day VFR for two reasons: I was concerned about icing at altitudes required to file IFR (airplane was not certified for flight into known icing); and had departed from same airport numerous times; in what appeared to be similar conditions. When I entered IMC; I was not mentally prepared. I did not have navigation set up; and did not have flight director or autopilot engaged. In addition; I had not flown this airplane recently. The avionics and autopilot are significantly different than other planes I fly. I learned the stress of these factors diminished my ability to scan and fly the airplane while simultaneously dealing with TRACON; setting up navigation; and changing squawk codes. In the future; when departing VFR under marginal conditions; I will be prepared; both the airplane and mentally; for unforeseen conditions.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.