Good sharing. Flying straight out IF this happens to you and climb until a minimum safe altitude. Then contact ATC and ask for support if you aren’t instrument qualified… this was seriously close to an NTSB report.

Thanks for sharing. Sounds like you have the right attitude, but…. Keep in mind, there were better options. Once you are IMC, climb and confess. Remember that there are other airplanes out there on IFR flight plans and there could have a been a departure or arrival at your destination. Also, there are towers that are sometimes unlit that you could have run into. Choosing to fly low under a cloud deck is not the best decision my brother. Glad you are safe and sound.

Excellent revovery and great self analysis.

Yikes! Seems like you stayed calm and thought it through. Bet you will always check the weather from now on. Wonderful learning experience - nobody got hurt. We all have them. Kudos for sharing this. Thank you.

Wow. Thanks for sharing this experience. As a potential future pilot (hopefully) this is a great lesson. I particularly liked point #2 "Don't panic, just fly the airplane."

Same thing happened to me this summer! Very scary as I was only a student pilot on a solo flight. Thank you for the video.

If you fly into fog (as you did) climb, climb, climb. By definition, fog is a low level ground cloud, you will get above it very quickly and be perfectly safe. Then fly somewhere with no fog, anywhere. Worse thing you can do (as you did) is try to fly under fog, and worse is to turn around and fly back to airport where the fog is. You are one lucky man, please be safe.

Thanks for sharing and glad you are ok

Thank you for sharing your story and great job staying cool.

Scud Run of the year 😳😳😳

Love the video. Truth is most ppl at some point in their flying get themselves into something like this or something close to this, but most ppl don't have the guts to post it!

good advice, good lessons, and good flying!

I remember my instructor always telling me, "fly the airplane," which you did. Good job.

_the faa has joined the chat_ in all seriousness good recap of an incident that could have ended badly. thanks for the video!

Scary. Glad you got through it!

Good flying 👍

Wow I'm surprised you even took off

Why not take La Porte or Valpo rather than scud-running back to Michigan City?

Scary stuff...great job of saving yourself.

And this is why we ALWAYS do a weather briefing before we fly, right?

Why didn't you just climb. I can see the clear sky above the fog layer. Skud running at 100 feet is asking for trouble. But anyhow glad everything worked out for the better.

Great job on staying calm and flying the aircraft. However, as a learning experience for any new/future pilots watching this, turning back wasn't the right choice. 1) Climb. Altitude is your friend. The moment you couldn't see you should have flown level wings and climbed. A banking maneuver for a non-IFR rated pilot in IMC is a recipe for disaster You can see in the video you were almost over the top of it at a few points. You would have been over there for in 30 seconds and from 3000 ft you would have been able to see the whole situation for miles around. 2) Contact Center. They're there to help. They could have told you where it was clear. Newer pilots are afraid or embarrassed to call Center and think they'll get into trouble. You won't get into trouble and they're great folks. Their job is to keep you safe. 3) NEVER EVER EVER enter a situation where you're thinking, "I think/hope this will work out." Hope it's not a plan. The worst part about this is the next time you'll think, "I made it last time, I'll be fine again." Just not a good mindset. Again, nice job staying calm and flying the plane. That is rule #1.

Good valid points made here in the comments. Just to add some considerations if you're thinking about climbing further into cloud. Do you know what the tops of the cloud are - will you come out the otherside? Are you you flying towards terrain? Where are you tracking? Check the temperature, consider icing conditions, which could get worse as you climb into could. Good learning experience for you 👍

Hadn't thought of bundling up in the Fall. How warm is the plane inside? Winter flying not practical?

what time of day was this ? Good work thank you for sharing.

What's IMC stand for?

Not very smart on your part! After 48 years in aviation you had clue before take off..... Made for a good youtube video though

This is over dramatized. This was a small shallow cloud bank and ground viability would still be reasonable most times. Normal piloting conditions really.