Narrative:

I was on a VFR cross country. Fifteen minutes prior to departing I checked the weather using the internet and 1-800-WX brief and both sources indicated that I would encounter VFR conditions during my flight. Approximately 30 minutes into my flight I faced concerns about the possibility of IFR conditions further in my flight so I landed at an enroute airport to check the weather again using the internet. The weather source again indicated that I could be facing VFR conditions along my route of flight and that the weather would only be improving as I got closer to my destination. After I departed and contacted ATC for flight following; I began facing worsening weather conditions so I began descending in order to remain clear of the clouds. I also began experiencing avionics problems as my navigational radios were giving me erroneous readings; my GPS failed; and my transponder momentarily cut out. At this point I had descended all the way down to approximately 700 ft AGL in order to remain clear of the clouds and I informed ATC that I was experiencing IFR conditions in an aircraft that was not equipped for IFR flight and that I wanted to divert to a nearby airport. ATC advised me to climb to 3;000 ft and began giving me vectors to my destination. At this time ATC informed me they were declaring an emergency for me. After approximately 20 minutes of being vectored by ATC I descended out of the clouds and landed safely at my filed destination. The problem was caused by me not making the decision to turn back and end my flight sooner. I faced some avionics problems and that should have alone been grounds for ending my flight and finding a safe place to land. I further compounded the problem by trying to 'scud run' my way out of trouble and when I did that I ran into IMC conditions. The lessons I learned from this are to always error on the side of caution when it comes to weather and to not hesitate to turn back immediately after I experienced conditions that are worse than what is reported. Moving forward; the lessons I learned from this flight will make me a safer pilot in the future.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A C206 pilot's weather preflight determined VMC would exist his entire route. However; weather deteriorated enroute so he diverted and again found VMC forecast but weather deteriorated to IMC so he asked ATC for assistance. ATC declared an emergency for him because of navigation equipment failures.

Narrative: I was on a VFR cross country. Fifteen minutes prior to departing I checked the weather using the internet and 1-800-WX Brief and both sources indicated that I would encounter VFR conditions during my flight. Approximately 30 minutes into my flight I faced concerns about the possibility of IFR conditions further in my flight so I landed at an enroute airport to check the weather again using the internet. The weather source again indicated that I could be facing VFR conditions along my route of flight and that the weather would only be improving as I got closer to my destination. After I departed and contacted ATC for flight following; I began facing worsening weather conditions so I began descending in order to remain clear of the clouds. I also began experiencing avionics problems as my navigational radios were giving me erroneous readings; my GPS failed; and my transponder momentarily cut out. At this point I had descended all the way down to approximately 700 FT AGL in order to remain clear of the clouds and I informed ATC that I was experiencing IFR conditions in an aircraft that was not equipped for IFR flight and that I wanted to divert to a nearby airport. ATC advised me to climb to 3;000 FT and began giving me vectors to my destination. At this time ATC informed me they were declaring an emergency for me. After approximately 20 minutes of being vectored by ATC I descended out of the clouds and landed safely at my filed destination. The problem was caused by me not making the decision to turn back and end my flight sooner. I faced some avionics problems and that should have alone been grounds for ending my flight and finding a safe place to land. I further compounded the problem by trying to 'scud run' my way out of trouble and when I did that I ran into IMC conditions. The lessons I learned from this are to always error on the side of caution when it comes to weather and to not hesitate to turn back immediately after I experienced conditions that are worse than what is reported. Moving forward; the lessons I learned from this flight will make me a safer pilot in the future.

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.