Narrative:

I have several hundred hours of instrument flying but am not current. On this trip there was a tfr for vip movement in the area and the restricted area would be very close to my route of flight. I became very concerned when the briefer also warned me that the tfr area could be moved at any time. There was some marginal weather in the middle area of my route but the departure weather was scattered at 4;000 and it was clear at my destination with a forecast to remain clear so I was confident of a good VFR flight in climb; cruise and descent.I was also much more familiar with filing an IFR plan than using flight following and did not like the lower priority that aircraft receive on flight following (my belief anyway). My concern over tfr incursion overrode my judgment. [Thus; I filed and IFR flight plane.]the flight went very well and I followed all of the controller's instructions just as I used to in my IFR currency days. Climbout was uneventful and I never lost ground contact but there were some times when I clipped some of the scattered clouds on the way up. The scattered layer was less than 1;000 ft thick. Cruise at 7;000 ft was pure VFR with clear above and overcast at least 2;000 ft below. Descent was VFR until I saw scattered clouds (end of the overcast area) and clear ahead so I terminated IFR before entering the clouds and maintained VFR into the fully clear area.what I should have done was a VFR flight plan; picked my way through the scattered layer to 7;500 and then taken a more northerly route using flight following. This would have put me 30 or 40 miles north of the northern boundary of the tfr. Solid communications would have been ensured at that altitude and if the tfr moved I am sure it would have been well broadcast. I should not let an event like this affect my judgment.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An instrument rated but non current Private Pilot chose to file an IFR flight plan to help insure avoidance of a TFR enroute. Subsequently found himself in occasional periods of IMC.

Narrative: I have several hundred hours of instrument flying but am not current. On this trip there was a TFR for VIP movement in the area and the restricted area would be very close to my route of flight. I became very concerned when the briefer also warned me that the TFR area could be moved at any time. There was some marginal weather in the middle area of my route but the departure weather was scattered at 4;000 and it was clear at my destination with a forecast to remain clear so I was confident of a good VFR flight in climb; cruise and descent.I was also much more familiar with filing an IFR plan than using flight following and did not like the lower priority that aircraft receive on flight following (my belief anyway). My concern over TFR incursion overrode my judgment. [Thus; I filed and IFR flight plane.]The flight went very well and I followed all of the Controller's instructions just as I used to in my IFR currency days. Climbout was uneventful and I never lost ground contact but there were some times when I clipped some of the scattered clouds on the way up. The scattered layer was less than 1;000 FT thick. Cruise at 7;000 FT was pure VFR with clear above and overcast at least 2;000 FT below. Descent was VFR until I saw scattered clouds (end of the overcast area) and clear ahead so I terminated IFR before entering the clouds and maintained VFR into the fully clear area.What I should have done was a VFR flight plan; picked my way through the scattered layer to 7;500 and then taken a more northerly route using flight following. This would have put me 30 or 40 miles north of the northern boundary of the TFR. Solid communications would have been ensured at that altitude and if the TFR moved I am sure it would have been well broadcast. I should not let an event like this affect my judgment.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.