Narrative:

After a long flight; I inadvertently entered diminishing visual conditions. Upon descending to remain VFR the ceilings were diminishing more rapidly than the weather I was receiving reports on via my ads-B in. Having been over the top recently and having a level of confidence of the tops I called [ATC] to request a pop up IFR clearance. Approach gave me direct [to a suitable airport at] 3000 feet. I am instrument rated but out of currency. At this point I was stuck on top trying to find a gap to get down but was unable. Once handed off I was given vectors for the ILS; I had to go missed on the first approach as I was unable to capture the localizer. I was vectored again for the same approach and was once again unable to capture the localizer. I had asked if I could shoot the full approach but was told no. At this point I did my best to fly the course using the available data I had while remaining above 2100 feet which was my clearance. As I was attempting to make the second approach and once again unable to capture the localizer. I made a descent to around 1400 feet where the ceilings were forecast. Based on my GPS positioning I knew was over the field and I was hoping for lights. At this point I became a little disoriented and turned off the landing light to help. As I broke out of the clouds I found myself at a left 45 to the field but with an absolutely clear visual. Tower canceled my clearance and wanted to send me around again.when taking my instrument check ride my examiner advised me that people get killed flying the same approach over and over again. He told me that when flying commercial airline operations whenever they went missed they would ask themselves 3 questions was it the weather; the pilot or the plane. At this point I knew the pilot was struggling. I asked the tower to allow me to continue and at that point they asked if I had the field; I did not. Seconds later the field was insight. I requested a left 360 to maintain visual and get aligned for a landing. The tower denied it.at this point I felt I had no choice but to not give up visual with the field and land the plane. I [advised ATC] in order to stop negotiating with the tower and clearly stated I would make a left 360 and land. There was traffic on the approach as well so I stated clearly I was declaring and landing. I did my best to exit the runway as quickly as possible to not cause any disruption in the flow or safety of incoming traffic. I have since replayed the situation over and over gone back through the manuals and have come to understand the factors that caused me to proceed into diminishing conditions as well as the factors that caused me to be unable to capture the ILS.I made several mistakes in the process and am working to get training to resolve those issues. I've watched and read more stories about people letting ATC control the plane in an emergency and not do what needed to be done. When I realized I was disoriented and had the field it became abundantly clear that my absolute best option to get that plane safely to the ground was to not lose visual of the field and land.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: SR22 pilot reported weather was worse than depicted on ADS-B; so requested a pop-up IFR clearance and landed after a challenging ILS approach.

Narrative: After a long flight; I inadvertently entered diminishing visual conditions. Upon descending to remain VFR the ceilings were diminishing more rapidly than the weather I was receiving reports on via my ADS-B in. Having been over the top recently and having a level of confidence of the tops I called [ATC] to request a pop up IFR clearance. Approach gave me direct [to a suitable airport at] 3000 feet. I am instrument rated but out of currency. At this point I was stuck on top trying to find a gap to get down but was unable. Once handed off I was given vectors for the ILS; I had to go missed on the first approach as I was unable to capture the localizer. I was vectored again for the same approach and was once again unable to capture the localizer. I had asked if I could shoot the full approach but was told no. At this point I did my best to fly the course using the available data I had while remaining above 2100 feet which was my clearance. As I was attempting to make the second approach and once again unable to capture the localizer. I made a descent to around 1400 feet where the ceilings were forecast. Based on my GPS positioning I knew was over the field and I was hoping for lights. At this point I became a little disoriented and turned off the landing light to help. As I broke out of the clouds I found myself at a left 45 to the field but with an absolutely clear visual. Tower canceled my clearance and wanted to send me around again.When taking my instrument check ride my examiner advised me that people get killed flying the same approach over and over again. He told me that when flying commercial airline operations whenever they went missed they would ask themselves 3 questions was it the weather; the pilot or the plane. At this point I knew the pilot was struggling. I asked the Tower to allow me to continue and at that point they asked if I had the field; I did not. Seconds later the field was insight. I requested a left 360 to maintain visual and get aligned for a landing. The Tower denied it.At this point I felt I had no choice but to not give up visual with the field and land the plane. I [advised ATC] in order to stop negotiating with the Tower and clearly stated I would make a left 360 and land. There was traffic on the approach as well so I stated clearly I was declaring and landing. I did my best to exit the runway as quickly as possible to not cause any disruption in the flow or safety of incoming traffic. I have since replayed the situation over and over gone back through the manuals and have come to understand the factors that caused me to proceed into diminishing conditions as well as the factors that caused me to be unable to capture the ILS.I made several mistakes in the process and am working to get training to resolve those issues. I've watched and read more stories about people letting ATC control the plane in an emergency and not do what needed to be done. When I realized I was disoriented and had the field it became abundantly clear that my absolute best option to get that plane safely to the ground was to not lose visual of the field and land.

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.