Narrative:

The VFR flight was from farmingdale, ny (frg), to norwood, ma (owd). My planned route was frg bdr hfd put and radar vectors to the practice localizer runway 35 approach. I had radar advisory service throughout the flight. I had received a WX briefing that warned of a possibility of marginal VFR with occasional low ceilings and occasional light snow showers. The individual predictions for the stations along my route of flight were VFR and the route was reporting VFR when I departed, with ceilings 4500 ft or better. At departure the sky was clear over long island. En route I came across light haze or fog, still very definitely visual conditions. However, between bridgeport and hartford I could see thickening haze a few mi ahead along my route of flight. After my earlier experiences of the weekend I was trying to be particularly careful to communicate with ATC, use all the resources available to make an informed decision about the WX, and choose an alternate destination if necessary. Rather than penetrate the haze, I circled and called flight watch to discuss my options. I was told that there were VFR conditions to my north and along an east west line from worcester to norwood. Since the wind was from the north, it made sense to me that I could go around the clouds. I could also see clrer skies to the northwest. I continued to the hartford VOR and north. Suddenly, about 5 mi north of hartford I came up against a solid wall of fog forming an east west line perpendicular to my route of flight. I was still firmly in visual conditions, and I circled, remaining south of the clouds as I discussed the WX situation with providence approach and the efas briefer. While I circled, I traveled a few mi east to the windham airport. There, I tried to decide whether to land or to go to providence. I asked the providence approach controller what conditions were at providence and was told that providence was 2500 ft broken. No mention was made of deteriorating conditions, and since I had just come from long island sound where conditions had been clear, I thought I would have little trouble going to providence, which I decided to do. (Providence was closer to my destination, and a much more convenient place to abandon my airplane than windham, where I didn't know I'd be able to get public transportation.) as I flew the 25 mi east to providence, the ceiling was quite adequate for VFR flight, but about 10 mi out it started snowing. At first it was light snow and I still had 5 mi visibility, but the snow became heavier and the fog thickened, and I had to descend to 1500 ft while my visibility gradually went down to a couple of mi. Visibility went below minima just about the time I entered the providence class C, and I didn't know what to do other than maintain a safe altitude and land in IMC. I kept good positional awareness, was always in view of the ground, at 2-3 mi visibility, had approach plates and VFR charts and checked for obstacles along my route of flight. Without explicitly stating that I was in IMC, I stated clearly to the controller that I was unable to accept an IFR clearance, and that I had the ILS approach plate and would be happy to fly the approach if that seemed preferable. This seemed to create some confusion, the controller not really taking the hint, or understanding what I was asking for. I had hoped he would put me on a route where I could use the instruments, so I could make a more controled approach. I was anxious because at this point I had been vectored around, and though I saw no obstructions at my altitude on the approach plate I was somewhat below MSA for the approach and I was no longer certain exactly where I was on the chart. The controller vectored me around for traffic and then to a final approach to runway??? (No ILS, I would have had to circle if I had been given the ILS). Finally, I got into visual contact with the airport at 1 1/2 to 2 mi and 1200 ft. Perhaps I should have asked for special VFR clearance. I landed in vigorous snow and taxied to the ramp, somewhat shaken. Within an hour the weak front had passed out to sea, the conditions returned to solid VFR, and I was able to complete the 15 min trip to norwood in beautiful clear WX. There are a lot of lessons from this episode, but the first is that WX changes fast. I need to learn to better interpret WX and to be more conservative until I've really come to understand WX, or at least understand what I can and can't interpret. Despite several hundred hours of piloting experience, my WX education is still inadequate, and although I've flown between new york and boston repeatedly, I haven't dealt that much with winter WX. About a yr ago I took a 10 day instrument accelerated course. I remember being very disappointed that none of their instructors seemed really able to use WX products competently. I had asked them to go over a briefing with me in detail, and they had a lot of trouble translating it, much less interpreting it. My current instructor, with whom I am finishing my instrument training, is very good, but we haven't really done a serious WX syllabus. I'm planning on doing a 'WX intensive' at the first opportunity. I'd like to take a WX interpretation course that really teaches how to build a solid picture. I've been exploring internet WX and found dozens of different WX products, but I don't really know how to use them. I've completed all my instrument training, but I haven't been signed off for the flight test because I still need more practice. I expect to have the rating soon. To some extent it's inevitable that having received the training and having traveled in clouds with an instructor, I don't fear for my safety just because I'm in clouds, and I have to work harder to avoid taking chances that I would have avoided when clouds were still completely alien. The experience of this trip tells me that I have to be more careful. I have no business flying in clouds until the FAA bestows an instrument rating upon me.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: NON-INST RATED PVT PLT FLEW INTO INST CONDITIONS. RPTS FROM SAME PLT WITHIN PREVIOUS 2 DAYS SHOW DISREGARD FOR FARS AND WX CONDITIONS.

Narrative: THE VFR FLT WAS FROM FARMINGDALE, NY (FRG), TO NORWOOD, MA (OWD). MY PLANNED RTE WAS FRG BDR HFD PUT AND RADAR VECTORS TO THE PRACTICE LOC RWY 35 APCH. I HAD RADAR ADVISORY SVC THROUGHOUT THE FLT. I HAD RECEIVED A WX BRIEFING THAT WARNED OF A POSSIBILITY OF MARGINAL VFR WITH OCCASIONAL LOW CEILINGS AND OCCASIONAL LIGHT SNOW SHOWERS. THE INDIVIDUAL PREDICTIONS FOR THE STATIONS ALONG MY RTE OF FLT WERE VFR AND THE RTE WAS RPTING VFR WHEN I DEPARTED, WITH CEILINGS 4500 FT OR BETTER. AT DEP THE SKY WAS CLR OVER LONG ISLAND. ENRTE I CAME ACROSS LIGHT HAZE OR FOG, STILL VERY DEFINITELY VISUAL CONDITIONS. HOWEVER, BTWN BRIDGEPORT AND HARTFORD I COULD SEE THICKENING HAZE A FEW MI AHEAD ALONG MY RTE OF FLT. AFTER MY EARLIER EXPERIENCES OF THE WEEKEND I WAS TRYING TO BE PARTICULARLY CAREFUL TO COMMUNICATE WITH ATC, USE ALL THE RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION ABOUT THE WX, AND CHOOSE AN ALTERNATE DEST IF NECESSARY. RATHER THAN PENETRATE THE HAZE, I CIRCLED AND CALLED FLT WATCH TO DISCUSS MY OPTIONS. I WAS TOLD THAT THERE WERE VFR CONDITIONS TO MY N AND ALONG AN E W LINE FROM WORCESTER TO NORWOOD. SINCE THE WIND WAS FROM THE N, IT MADE SENSE TO ME THAT I COULD GO AROUND THE CLOUDS. I COULD ALSO SEE CLRER SKIES TO THE NW. I CONTINUED TO THE HARTFORD VOR AND N. SUDDENLY, ABOUT 5 MI N OF HARTFORD I CAME UP AGAINST A SOLID WALL OF FOG FORMING AN E W LINE PERPENDICULAR TO MY RTE OF FLT. I WAS STILL FIRMLY IN VISUAL CONDITIONS, AND I CIRCLED, REMAINING S OF THE CLOUDS AS I DISCUSSED THE WX SIT WITH PROVIDENCE APCH AND THE EFAS BRIEFER. WHILE I CIRCLED, I TRAVELED A FEW MI E TO THE WINDHAM ARPT. THERE, I TRIED TO DECIDE WHETHER TO LAND OR TO GO TO PROVIDENCE. I ASKED THE PROVIDENCE APCH CTLR WHAT CONDITIONS WERE AT PROVIDENCE AND WAS TOLD THAT PROVIDENCE WAS 2500 FT BROKEN. NO MENTION WAS MADE OF DETERIORATING CONDITIONS, AND SINCE I HAD JUST COME FROM LONG ISLAND SOUND WHERE CONDITIONS HAD BEEN CLR, I THOUGHT I WOULD HAVE LITTLE TROUBLE GOING TO PROVIDENCE, WHICH I DECIDED TO DO. (PROVIDENCE WAS CLOSER TO MY DEST, AND A MUCH MORE CONVENIENT PLACE TO ABANDON MY AIRPLANE THAN WINDHAM, WHERE I DIDN'T KNOW I'D BE ABLE TO GET PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION.) AS I FLEW THE 25 MI E TO PROVIDENCE, THE CEILING WAS QUITE ADEQUATE FOR VFR FLT, BUT ABOUT 10 MI OUT IT STARTED SNOWING. AT FIRST IT WAS LIGHT SNOW AND I STILL HAD 5 MI VISIBILITY, BUT THE SNOW BECAME HEAVIER AND THE FOG THICKENED, AND I HAD TO DSND TO 1500 FT WHILE MY VISIBILITY GRADUALLY WENT DOWN TO A COUPLE OF MI. VISIBILITY WENT BELOW MINIMA JUST ABOUT THE TIME I ENTERED THE PROVIDENCE CLASS C, AND I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO OTHER THAN MAINTAIN A SAFE ALT AND LAND IN IMC. I KEPT GOOD POSITIONAL AWARENESS, WAS ALWAYS IN VIEW OF THE GND, AT 2-3 MI VISIBILITY, HAD APCH PLATES AND VFR CHARTS AND CHKED FOR OBSTACLES ALONG MY RTE OF FLT. WITHOUT EXPLICITLY STATING THAT I WAS IN IMC, I STATED CLRLY TO THE CTLR THAT I WAS UNABLE TO ACCEPT AN IFR CLRNC, AND THAT I HAD THE ILS APCH PLATE AND WOULD BE HAPPY TO FLY THE APCH IF THAT SEEMED PREFERABLE. THIS SEEMED TO CREATE SOME CONFUSION, THE CTLR NOT REALLY TAKING THE HINT, OR UNDERSTANDING WHAT I WAS ASKING FOR. I HAD HOPED HE WOULD PUT ME ON A RTE WHERE I COULD USE THE INSTS, SO I COULD MAKE A MORE CTLED APCH. I WAS ANXIOUS BECAUSE AT THIS POINT I HAD BEEN VECTORED AROUND, AND THOUGH I SAW NO OBSTRUCTIONS AT MY ALT ON THE APCH PLATE I WAS SOMEWHAT BELOW MSA FOR THE APCH AND I WAS NO LONGER CERTAIN EXACTLY WHERE I WAS ON THE CHART. THE CTLR VECTORED ME AROUND FOR TFC AND THEN TO A FINAL APCH TO RWY??? (NO ILS, I WOULD HAVE HAD TO CIRCLE IF I HAD BEEN GIVEN THE ILS). FINALLY, I GOT INTO VISUAL CONTACT WITH THE ARPT AT 1 1/2 TO 2 MI AND 1200 FT. PERHAPS I SHOULD HAVE ASKED FOR SPECIAL VFR CLRNC. I LANDED IN VIGOROUS SNOW AND TAXIED TO THE RAMP, SOMEWHAT SHAKEN. WITHIN AN HR THE WEAK FRONT HAD PASSED OUT TO SEA, THE CONDITIONS RETURNED TO SOLID VFR, AND I WAS ABLE TO COMPLETE THE 15 MIN TRIP TO NORWOOD IN BEAUTIFUL CLR WX. THERE ARE A LOT OF LESSONS FROM THIS EPISODE, BUT THE FIRST IS THAT WX CHANGES FAST. I NEED TO LEARN TO BETTER INTERPRET WX AND TO BE MORE CONSERVATIVE UNTIL I'VE REALLY COME TO UNDERSTAND WX, OR AT LEAST UNDERSTAND WHAT I CAN AND CAN'T INTERPRET. DESPITE SEVERAL HUNDRED HRS OF PILOTING EXPERIENCE, MY WX EDUCATION IS STILL INADEQUATE, AND ALTHOUGH I'VE FLOWN BTWN NEW YORK AND BOSTON REPEATEDLY, I HAVEN'T DEALT THAT MUCH WITH WINTER WX. ABOUT A YR AGO I TOOK A 10 DAY INST ACCELERATED COURSE. I REMEMBER BEING VERY DISAPPOINTED THAT NONE OF THEIR INSTRUCTORS SEEMED REALLY ABLE TO USE WX PRODUCTS COMPETENTLY. I HAD ASKED THEM TO GO OVER A BRIEFING WITH ME IN DETAIL, AND THEY HAD A LOT OF TROUBLE TRANSLATING IT, MUCH LESS INTERPRETING IT. MY CURRENT INSTRUCTOR, WITH WHOM I AM FINISHING MY INST TRAINING, IS VERY GOOD, BUT WE HAVEN'T REALLY DONE A SERIOUS WX SYLLABUS. I'M PLANNING ON DOING A 'WX INTENSIVE' AT THE FIRST OPPORTUNITY. I'D LIKE TO TAKE A WX INTERP COURSE THAT REALLY TEACHES HOW TO BUILD A SOLID PICTURE. I'VE BEEN EXPLORING INTERNET WX AND FOUND DOZENS OF DIFFERENT WX PRODUCTS, BUT I DON'T REALLY KNOW HOW TO USE THEM. I'VE COMPLETED ALL MY INST TRAINING, BUT I HAVEN'T BEEN SIGNED OFF FOR THE FLT TEST BECAUSE I STILL NEED MORE PRACTICE. I EXPECT TO HAVE THE RATING SOON. TO SOME EXTENT IT'S INEVITABLE THAT HAVING RECEIVED THE TRAINING AND HAVING TRAVELED IN CLOUDS WITH AN INSTRUCTOR, I DON'T FEAR FOR MY SAFETY JUST BECAUSE I'M IN CLOUDS, AND I HAVE TO WORK HARDER TO AVOID TAKING CHANCES THAT I WOULD HAVE AVOIDED WHEN CLOUDS WERE STILL COMPLETELY ALIEN. THE EXPERIENCE OF THIS TRIP TELLS ME THAT I HAVE TO BE MORE CAREFUL. I HAVE NO BUSINESS FLYING IN CLOUDS UNTIL THE FAA BESTOWS AN INST RATING UPON ME.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.