SMA ENCOUNTERS WX; ENTERS IMC DECLARES EMER.

Narrative

I WAS FLYING TO FDK FROM 39N TO DELIVER A PACKAGE. I HAD CALLED FOR A WX BRIEFING WHILE IN MY CAR ON THE WAY TO THE ARPT. WX WAS SCATTERED TO BROKEN ANYWHERE FROM 4000 FT TO 2500 FT ALONG THE RTE; WITH CHANCE OF WIDELY SCATTERED LIGHT RAIN AND POSSIBLY SNOW SHOWERS. AT THE TIME OF DEP; THE CEILING AND VISIBILITY AT BOTH DEP AND DEST WAS BETTER THAN 3000 FT AND 10 MI VISIBILITY. IT WAS A QUICK 2 HR ROUND TRIP WITH MAYBE 10 MINS ON THE GND AT MY DEST. MY PLANS STARTED TO UNRAVEL WITH PLENTY OF WARNING; BUT I WAS NOT KEYED INTO THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE SIT. ABOUT THE SAME TIME I WAS WEAVING AROUND THE SCATTERED SHOWERS; THE GPS LOST ITS SATELLITE LOCK. THE HANDHELD IS MOUNTED TO THE YOKE; WITH THE ANTENNA INSIDE THE AIRPLANE. SO IF THE SATELLITES ARE OVERHEAD; OR BEHIND ME; RECEPTION IS POOR. THIS USUALLY CLRS UP IN ABOUT 10 MINS; SO I WAS UNCONCERNED AT THE TIME: SECOND MISTAKE. WHILE TAXIING OUT AT FDK AFTER DELIVERING THE PACKAGE; I HAD THE R BRAKE LOCK UP ON ME. THIS ONLY TURNED OUT TO BE DUE TO A SLIPPED CABLE IN THE PARKING BRAKE SYS; BUT IT DID DELAY ME FOR A TOTAL OF ABOUT 30 MINS ON THE GND. DEPARTING FDK THE CEILING WAS ABOUT 3000 FT; VISIBILITY BETTER THAN 10 MI. MY DEST WAS ALSO RPTING BETTER THAN 4000 FT CEILING. ABOUT 20 MINS INTO THE FLT HOME; THE CEILINGS AND VISIBILITY STARTED TO DROP. HAVING JUST FLOWN THIS COURSE ABOUT 50 MINS AGO; I EXPECTED TO WEAVE AROUND THESE SHOWERS; AND FIND FAIRLY GOOD VFR ON THE OTHER SIDE. SINCE I WAS LOW; THE VOR'S WERE NOT GETTING A GOOD SIGNAL; AND THE GPS STILL HAD NOT COME BACK ON-LINE. AFTER DODGING 2 SMALL SNOW SHOWERS; VISIBILITY AND CEILINGS BEGAN TO CLOSE IN ON ME. I WAS NOW WORKING MYSELF INTO A MAZE OF FAIRLY DENSE SNOW SHOWERS; NOT JUST FLYING AROUND THEM. I STARTED TO TRY AND REVERSE COURSE; BUT THE CONDITIONS WERE RAPIDLY DETERIORATING AROUND ME. I SLOWED THE ACFT TO MINIMIZE TURN RADIUS; AND WAS BY NOW DOWN TO ABOUT 1000 FT MSL - MAYBE 700 FT AGL. THE AREA I WAS IN WAS STILL REASONABLE VISIBILITY; AND THE CLOUDS ABOVE WERE BRIGHT; INDICATING THEY WERE NOT VERY THICK. WITH NO GPS AND ITS FRIENDLY LITTLE MOVING MAP; AND NO WAY OUT OF THE MAZE; I WAS LOW AND SLOW AND I WAS IN TROUBLE. I KNEW THERE WERE MOUNTAINS NEARBY; SO I CHOSE TO TRY AND CLB THROUGH THE CLOUD LAYER. IMMEDIATELY UPON INITIATING THE CLB; I ENTERED THE CLOUDS IN FULL IMC. I WAS EXPERIENCING MASSIVE VERTIGO DUE TO THE PREVIOUS STEEP TURNS; AND HAD TO CONCENTRATE FULLY TO OVERCOME THE IMPULSE TO ROLL L. ALTHOUGH MY INST RATING WAS NOT CURRENT; IT WAS GOOD ENOUGH TO JUST KEEP THE WINGS SORT OF LEVEL AND KEEP CLBING; THOUGH MY HDG WENT TO HELL. IF I DID NOT HAVE AN INST RATING; I WOULD HAVE SURELY SPUN IN. I CLRLY RECALL THINKING THAT I KNEW THAT MOST FATAL ACCIDENTS OCCUR FROM CONTINUED VFR INTO IMC. I KNEW THIS; I READ SAFETY ARTICLES; I PARTICIPATE IN SAFETY SEMINARS; AND HERE I WAS. CLBING THROUGH ABOUT 3000 FT I KNEW I HAD TO CALL FOR HELP. I TUNED 121.5 AND ISSUED A MAYDAY CALL. MCGUIRE RESPONDED IMMEDIATELY; AND I WOULD HAVE DONE ANYTHING HE TOLD ME TO - IT WAS THE FIRST RIGHT THING I HAD DONE IN THE LAST 10 MINS. I TOLD HIM I WAS VFR INTO IMC; THAT I WAS INST RATED; BUT I HAD NO CHARTS ON BOARD; AND I NEEDED A VECTOR TO SOME CLR WX. WITH ABOUT 3 HRS OF FUEL ON BOARD I WAS READY TO JUST GET ON TOP AND FLY UNTIL I FOUND A HOLE. MCGUIRE ASKED FOR A POS AND I RESPONDED UNABLE. I THEN SQUAWKED 7700 AT HIS REQUEST AND HAD ENOUGH SENSE TO BRING UP MY POS ON THE LORAN. I GUESS I SHOULD HAVE JUST TOLD HIM I WAS MIDWAY BTWN FDK AND 39N; BUT INSTEAD I READ OFF A STRING OF COORDINATES. AGAIN; I WAS RELYING ON MY GADGETS AND NOT THINKING CLRLY. NEXT CAME THE ICE. THE CLOUDS; TEMP RIGHT AT FREEZING; MIXED SNOW AND RAIN IN THE AREA - PERFECT. I DID PICK UP LIGHT RIME ICING A FEW TIMES; BUT IT SEEMED TO CLR QUICKLY. I THINK I WAS OVER-EXAGGERATING THE ACTUAL DANGER; BUT I HAD VISIONS OF FAST; MASSIVE CLR ICE FROM SUPER COOLED RAIN. AS I CLBED HIGHER; MCGUIRE TOLD ME HE HAD FOUND ME ON RADAR AND WAS WORKING ON AN IFR CLRNC; AND TO FLY A HDG. IT WAS GOOD TO BE GIVEN CLR INSTRUCTIONS. THIS REMOVED ALL THE OPTIONS; AND GAVE ME SOMETHING TO CONCENTRATE ON DOING RIGHT. PRIOR TO BEING GIVEN A HDG; I DIDN'T EVEN INCLUDE IT INTO MY SCAN; SUCH AS IT WAS; BECAUSE I WAS NOT ON ANY HDG. I WAS FOCUSING ON THE ALT INDICATOR; AND THE TURN AND BANK. AT ONE POINT; THE AI WAS INDICATING A VERY STEEP CLB; AND I NOTICED AIRSPD DROPPING. I THINK I HAD CARB ICE AND SINCE I WAS CLBING THROUGH 8000 FT AND NEGLECTED TO LEAN YET; THE ENG WAS ROUGH. I FIDDLED WITH BOTH THE MIXTURE AND THE CARB HEAT AND LOWERED THE NOSE AND THINGS STARTED TO SMOOTH OUT. I FINALLY STARTED TO BREAK OUT AT ABOUT 9500 FT; BUT IT WAS A VERY RAGGED CLOUD TOP; AND I WOULD BE BACK IN IT SOON. STILL; IT WAS QUITE A RELIEF TO BE ABLE TO SEE. MCGUIRE CONTINUED TO HELP; AND THEN HANDED ME OFF TO PHILA APCH. FOR SOME REASON; I WAS NOT ABLE TO SWITCH FREQS ON THE FLIP FLOP COM RADIO. AFTER TELLING MCGUIRE I WAS UNABLE; I DID MANAGE TO GET IT TO FLIP. I HAVE NO IDEA WHY IT WAS NOT WORKING; BUT IT SEEMS THAT WHEN THINGS START TO FALL APART; EVERYTHING GOES TO HELL. SOON AFTER CONTACTING PHILA; I WAS GIVEN A CLRNC; AND THINGS SETTLED DOWN. I WAS DSNDED TO 5000 FT; AND STARTED TO SEE BREAKS UNDER ME. I WAS ALSO ICING AGAIN; SO I ASKED FOR AND RECEIVED 4000 FT. BY THIS TIME I WAS BACK TO CLR VFR AND BETTER THAN 30 MI. PHILA ASKED MY INTENTIONS SINCE I DID NOT HAVE CHARTS OR APCH PLATES; AND SINCE I WAS NOW IN THE CLR I JUST CANCELED IFR AND FLEW HOME WITHOUT INCIDENT. WHY DID THIS HAPPEN? 1) I WAS NOT WILLING TO TURN BACK TO THE FOREIGN ARPT SOON ENOUGH. I THINK THAT I WOULD HAVE TURNED BACK IF I HAD HIT THAT WX ON THE WAY DOWN; BUT WITH RESPONSIBILITIES AND COMMITMENTS ON THE OTHER SIDE; I LET MY DESIRE LEAD ME INTO A WORSENING SIT. 2) TOO MUST FAITH IN THE GADGETS. WITH ALL THAT HIGH-TECH HELP ON BOARD; I FELT BETTER PREPARED TO HANDLE THE WX. THIS STUFF IS NOT IFR APPROVED; ESPECIALLY THE HANDHELD GPS. THE GIZMO THAT TYPICALLY GIVES THE MOST CONFIDENCE LET ME DOWN WHEN I NEEDED IT THE MOST. IT DID COME BACK ON LINE AT ABOUT 9000 FT AND IT WAS A GREAT HELP IN ORIENTING MYSELF; BUT I MUST REALLY TREAT IT AS EXTRA FLUFF AND NEVER RELY ON IT. 3) I MUST KEEP CURRENT; AND KEEP A SET OF CHARTS ON-BOARD IF I EXPECT TO FLY ON BUSINESS. HAD I BEEN UP TO SNUFF ON MY INSTS; I WOULD HAVE JUST CALLED CTR AND FILED NORMALLY AS SOON AS IT WAS LOOKING MARGINAL. ATC AND MCGUIRE DID A SUPERB JOB; BUT THIS SHOULD NOT HAVE REQUIRED A MAYDAY.