CH71 TRAINEE AND INSTRUCTOR FLEW VFR IN IMC.

Narrative

WHILE RETURNING FROM A FINAL CHKOUT IN MY FIRST TAILDRAGGER; MY CIVILIAN INSTRUCTOR AND I WERE HDG ROUGHLY 070 DEGS FROM FHR; VFR AT 1200 FT MSL. THE WX WAS NOT UNUSUAL FOR THIS PART OF THE NW WITH A SCATTERED LAYER RPTED HOVERING AT 1100 FT MSL IN THE VICINITY OF NUW. AS WE CLOSED ON THE FIELD; OR MORE SPECIFICALLY; AS WE FLEW FURTHER OUT OVER THE WATER; THE CLOUDS SEEMED TO BE SLIGHTLY LOWER IN PLACES; AND I HAD TO 'PICK MY WAY AROUND' IN ORDER TO REMAIN VFR. THE CLOUD LAYER WAS INDISTINCT; HOWEVER; I HAD NO PROB FINDING MY WAY BACK TO WHIDBEY ISLAND AND REMAINING VFR IN THE CITABRIA; WHICH IS A VFR-ONLY ACFT. SINCE THE ACFT HAS NO NAVAIDS; I TOOK A GENERAL HDG THAT WOULD MINIMIZE MY TIME OVER WATER. USUALLY; I TRANSIT THE DISTANCE BTWN THE ISLANDS AT A HIGHER ALT IN CONSIDERATION OF GLIDE DISTANCE IN THE EVENT OF PWR LOSS. NONETHELESS; THE CTLR ASKED ME IF I WAS HAVING 'DIFFICULTY FINDING THE FIELD;' AND I REPLIED THAT I WAS DEVIATING SLIGHTLY FOR WX AS I WAS ACTUALLY HDG ABOUT 20 DEGS N OF THE FIELD -- A SHORTER AND MORE COMFORTABLE OVERWATER LEG. APPARENTLY; SEVERAL ACFT WERE HAVING DIFFICULTY WITH THE WX; AND THE CTLR SOON ASKED ME FOR A PIREP. AS I AM A MIL AVIATOR; I IMMEDIATELY AND INSTINCTIVELY REPLIED THAT 'OVER WATER THE BOTTOMS WERE ANYWHERE FROM 850-900 FT MSL AND THAT THE WX OVER FRIDAY HARBOR WAS PRETTY GOOD.' MY INSTRUCTOR THEN STATED THAT I HAD JUST FLT-VIOLATED MYSELF BY PUTTING MYSELF ON RPT IN A VFR-ONLY ACFT THAT REQUIRES 1000 FT/3 MI. IN FACT; NOT LONG AFTER WE LANDED; THE FIELD SUSPENDED VFR OPS FOR ALL ACFT EVEN THOUGH CEILINGS WERE NOT BELOW APPROX 1300 FT MSL OVER THE FIELD; WHICH IS AT 47 FT MSL. EVEN THOUGH I HAD NOT SIGNIFICANTLY BROKEN ANY ALT RESTRS; I COULD EASILY DETERMINE THE CLOUD LAYERS BY GAUGING MY OWN ALT. MVFR WX IS EXACTLY THAT; AND CONSEQUENTLY; I WONDER HOW TO HANDLE THIS SIT IN THE FUTURE? THERE IS NO TEXTBOOK ANSWER; AS AVIATION IS AN INEXACT SCIENCE; YET I HAVE SEEN MANY PLTS RPT WHAT THEY NEED TO IN ORDER TO STAY OUT OF TROUBLE IN PLACE OF RPTING THE TRUTH. WHERE SHOULD ONE DRAW THE LINE IN SUCH A MATTER? I ASK THIS QUESTION BECAUSE I HAVE ALWAYS REGARDED FLT CTLRS AS TEAMMATES; AND I DO NOT THINK ANYTHING SHORT OF THE TRUTH IS ACCEPTABLE WHEN RPTING INFO THAT MAY BE OF USE TO OTHER AVIATORS OR CTLRS IN MAKING DECISIONS. PERHAPS I SHOULD HAVE SIMPLY BEEN MORE DESCRIPTIVE. I BELIEVE THAT ON THIS VFR APCH; THE WX WAS CERTAINLY RIGHT AT THE MINIMUMS ON PARTS OF THE OVERWATER LEG. HOWEVER; I DO NOT THINK THAT I OPERATED MY ACFT IN AN UNSAFE MANNER THAT ENDANGERED MYSELF; MY INSTRUCTOR PAX; OR ANYONE ELSE IN THE AIR OR ON THE WATER. I WOULD CERTAINLY APPRECIATE ANY ADVICE OR GUIDANCE THAT COULD BE PROVIDED TO ME ON THE MATTER.