A NON-INSTRUMENT RATED PVT PLT PERSISTED ON HIS SVFR DEP LONG AFTER IT WAS PRUDENT.

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WX WAS RPTED 1200 AND 4 MI AT MSP AND FCM; BUT VFR 4000 - 10000 FT AGL BY MINNESOTA/WISCONSIN STATE LINE; JUST 20-30 MI E. AFTER STARTUP; ATIS WAS 1000 FT AND 2 1/2 MI; SO I REQUESTED SVFR. WHEN I CALLED READY; TWR SAID 'ARE YOU GOING FAR? IT IS GETTING WORSE.' I SAID 'GOING TO WISCONSIN' (WHERE MUCH BETTER WX AND TWR CLRED ME FOR TKOF 'MAINTAIN SVFR AT OR BELOW 1900 FT MSL'). I SHOULD HAVE SHUT DOWN BECAUSE IT TURNED OUT A LOT WORSE. I WAS ONLY ABLE TO CLB TO 1500 FT MSL BEFORE VISIBILITY WAS UNACCEPTABLE. I AM ALMOST READY FOR IFR CHK RIDE; SO I AM COMFORTABLE ON THE GAUGES IN THIS AIRPLANE. HOWEVER; THERE ARE RADIO TWRS 1500 FT AND 1700 FT AND THERE IS TERRAIN 1200 FT MSL. THE 1000-1200 FT RIDGES HAVE SUBURBS ON THEM; WHICH I GOT FAR TOO CLOSE A LOOK AT. I MAY HAVE GOTTEN CLOSE TO THE TCA (SAVAGE; MN; WATER TWR). THE GOOD NEWS WAS THAT I WAS CHKING THE TCA CHART; AND FOLLOWING THE AIRWAY (V171) VERY CAREFULLY; BEING AWARE AND STAYING AWAY OF THE CHARTED TWRS. HOWEVER; 300 FT IS NOT SUFFICIENT GND CLRNC. IF I HAD BEEN ABLE TO CLB TO 1800 - 1900 FT MSL; THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN SAFE GIVEN 1 MI VISIBILITY AND CLR OF CLOUDS. LEAVING LATE IN THE DAY (WX SYS SLOWLY MOVING IN) WAS A FACTOR AND A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF 'GET-HOMEITIS.' IN THE FUTURE: FILE IFR AND HAVE PLENTY OF OBSTACLE CLRNC. DON'T ASK FOR A SPECIAL UNLESS SURE CAN GET TO CLRED ALT AND HAVE RETURN TO LAUNCH SITE. SET UP (RADIOS; APCH PLATES; ETC). DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT UNLESS COMFORTABLE ON INSTS (EVEN IF NOT YET RATED). ANOTHER CONTRIBUTING FACTOR: BIG GULF BTWN PVT VFR PRIVILEGES AND INST RATING; SOME COUNTRIES (UNITED KINGDOM POSSIBLY) HAVE AN INTERMEDIATE 'IMC' RATING; WHICH IS AN IFR RATING WITH MUCH HIGHER MINIMUMS AND LIMITED PRIVILEGES.