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I got a call late in the afternoon from one of my pilot buddies asking where the heck I was. He knew I was out flying that day. I told him where I was and he said I better get home soon, a fast moving front is coming in and all the fields behind the front were going IFR. I check the weather--still 7SM and 3000 broken at the home drome. I take off. There is about a 30kt. headwind and low level turbulence. I choose 2300ft as my cruising altitude as that is about as low as I can go while staying above any towers enroute and keeping out of the headwind as much as possible. Pitot heat on.
About 50 miles out, I run into the wall of clouds. The sun is low on the horizon and the VFR portable GPS is predicting my ETE will be about 10 minutes after sunset. I press on. The visual horizon is basically gone but I can still see the ground below me for a few miles in every direction but even that visibility is steadily receding. I split my time between my instruments and looking down on the ground below. I'm rock solid at 2300ft. and keeping the sunny side of the airplane up and cussing about the lack of visibility, headwind, and the choppy air. 2300ft. also happens to be the MDA for the instrument approach at my home field.
Getting close now, GPS shows 10 miles out. Don't see my town, definitely don't see the airport. 5 miles out. Still can't see the airport. It's getting very dark out. I click on all the lights with the radio. 3 miles, I see nothing. I slow the plane down and get it ready to land. Finally I see the airport below me and the GPS agrees. I circle with the airport in sight, descend, fly a short approach, and land. It's the most relieved I have been to be on the ground in my entire private pilot "career".
I checked the weather on AWOS while taxiing back to my hangar. 2SM, OVC 1500. I was damn lucky there was no ice, no instrument failure, and the clouds weren't any lower. Field elevation is about 900ft.
I know basic VFR minimums are 1 mile, clear of clouds. I was not clear of clouds, rather skimming along in the bottom layer. Horizontal visibility was nil/minimal but I could still see the ground if I looked straight down. I'm not instrument rated but I'm doing the training and I have shot about a dozen approaches in this month, some in actual, all with a CFII onboard (obviously). I know I have to get my IR ticket if I'm going to use my plane as a serious traveling machine like I want it to be.
About 50 miles out, I run into the wall of clouds. The sun is low on the horizon and the VFR portable GPS is predicting my ETE will be about 10 minutes after sunset. I press on. The visual horizon is basically gone but I can still see the ground below me for a few miles in every direction but even that visibility is steadily receding. I split my time between my instruments and looking down on the ground below. I'm rock solid at 2300ft. and keeping the sunny side of the airplane up and cussing about the lack of visibility, headwind, and the choppy air. 2300ft. also happens to be the MDA for the instrument approach at my home field.
Getting close now, GPS shows 10 miles out. Don't see my town, definitely don't see the airport. 5 miles out. Still can't see the airport. It's getting very dark out. I click on all the lights with the radio. 3 miles, I see nothing. I slow the plane down and get it ready to land. Finally I see the airport below me and the GPS agrees. I circle with the airport in sight, descend, fly a short approach, and land. It's the most relieved I have been to be on the ground in my entire private pilot "career".
I checked the weather on AWOS while taxiing back to my hangar. 2SM, OVC 1500. I was damn lucky there was no ice, no instrument failure, and the clouds weren't any lower. Field elevation is about 900ft.
I know basic VFR minimums are 1 mile, clear of clouds. I was not clear of clouds, rather skimming along in the bottom layer. Horizontal visibility was nil/minimal but I could still see the ground if I looked straight down. I'm not instrument rated but I'm doing the training and I have shot about a dozen approaches in this month, some in actual, all with a CFII onboard (obviously). I know I have to get my IR ticket if I'm going to use my plane as a serious traveling machine like I want it to be.
