Night flying...into clouds...IMC

[moxiepilot]

That's not always possible, Moxie. The authority to conduct the procedure I listed comes from 91.3. In fact, so does the 180 in clouds maneuver when you think about it.

Think about it - if you just flew into a cloud you just accidentally violated an FAR. It's done - fine, go home fill out a NASA report or whatever you want to do - the most important thing is to live through the experience.

I agree with the fact the authority to maneuver stems from PIC, but I will agree to disagree on a climb.

Where do the tops end? How far will you have to travel until you're VMC again? The only assured cloudless altitude/area you know of, is from where you just came.

 

[Champcar]

Fill out a ASRS Report if you want.

Watching the radar does not count in the eyes of the FAA, you need to Call FSS or get on Duat(s) and record your tail number.

 

[exleardriver]

chewie..i'm not that far away in central arkansas. our weather patterns are very similar. in the summer, especially when high pressure is dominating the region, you can expect that all that 'downward, clockwise and outward' pressure is holding all the particles in the atmosphere, creating haze. it's not uncommon for visibilities in some quadrants to get near vfr visibility minimums. keep that in mind for future flying. often the cloud bases are in the 3-5k range in our part of the country, usually a short descent and you're out of them, as you discovered. it's also true that the faa wishes us to teach student pilot the basic instrument flight maneuvers, one of the most important being the 180 degree about, standard rate turn to get out of inadvertent imc. chances are if you weren't in them a few moments ago, if you return to where you were by turning 180 degrees, you'll be safely out of them. then descend to a lower altitude, obstructions, etc. permitting and carry on.

i had a student flight yesterday in exactly your conditions. bases around 4k. i called approach control to request simply local traffic advisories while doing maneuvers. sometimes it helps to have 'big brother' watching you.

fwiw, many years ago, the exact same thing happened to me at night. i descended as well, maybe just 500 feet and saw lights again. but at the time it seemed like i was in them forever..

 

[Chewie von Nubbins]

Fill out a ASRS Report if you want.

Watching the radar does not count in the eyes of the FAA, you need to Call FSS or get on Duat(s) and record your tail number.

Of course! I ALWAYS check duats before I ever step foot into the plane. And, of course I did the same before this flight too. And, exactly for the reason of recording the tail number....as well as looking for any NOTAMs that might have popped up since the last time I was in the plane, or looking for anything that might effect my ability to make the flight.

Duats is one thing, as it gives the most relevant METARs and TAFs and any advisory information that I might need in order to make the trip. Watching the radar is a completely different ball of wax, which becomes the primary source (after duats) for the go/no go decision. Of course, we are talking about the weather here. CB build is wacked out during the day here. And, it never fails, every time they keep building and building and building....always unpredictable TS that break out around the area. I can only imagine what the guys down in FL have to go through when flying x/c trips and always watching the weather. I believe this wx pattern here is very similar, if not the same as what they go through.

But, that is what it is all about isn't it! Getting out and doing and learning, and letting the unpredictability of the summer wx here factor into the equation. I wouldn't have it any other way! I have already learned a great deal within the last few months, and everyday is a new adventure.

Thanks for all of the replies guys. It is awesome to be able to interact with all of you in this forum with questions such as this. I hope to be in your ranks in just a little while!

And, Moxie/Ian....I believe the climb (as you guys were cissy slapping each other )... I don't know, but I would guess that is part of the 5 C's for being lost. Climb so that more people can hear you confess your situation. However, I am not so sure (as Moxie pointed out) that that is a good idea. CB tops can be waaaaayyyyy up there. And, if these were helo type of rules, it makes perfect sense, as cruising at 5,000 ft is not that common for a helo...I would imagine. But, as usual, I could be wrong.

 

[Grabo172]

Radar doesn't detect clouds, only rain.

Suggestions:
Give yourself a good margin below the lowest reported cloud level. They aren't always that accurate.

Something I always do when I'm flying VFR at night, either on my own or with a student, is to treat the lowest reported cloud layer (even if it's FEW) as the ceiling.

If the lowest cloud layer isn't high enough, I either file IFR or stay home...

You can't see the clouds at night until you are in them, as you found out. You did OK dealing with it and you learned from the experience. Fill out a NASA report and use this as an example to teach others what not to do, but how to handle it if it happens. Make sure when you teach it, you tell it just like you described above.