A C182 PLT UNFAMILIAR WITH THE ACFT'S GPS AND AUTOPLT DSCNDED BELOW IAF ALT BECAUSE OF VERTIGO; ICING; AND HARDWARE DISTRACTIONS.

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ON SUN/APR/2005; I FLEW MR X'S CESSNA 182 FROM MWA TO UYF. I CHKED THE WX ON THE WX COMPUTER IN THE FBO AT MWA. I ALSO CALLED THE FSS TO OBTAIN A WX BRIEF. THE BRIEFER TOLD ME THAT THE CONDITIONS AT UYF WERE SUPPOSED TO BE 5 MILES VISIBILITY WITH 2000 FT CEILINGS; MVFR; SO I DIDN'T FILE AN ALTERNATE. I OBTAINED ANOTHER BRIEFING JUST BEFORE I TOOK OFF AND I FILED AN IFR FLT PLAN. WHILE ENRTE; ABOUT HALFWAY TO MY DEST I CONTACTED THE STL FSS AND RECEIVED ANOTHER BRIEFING FOR THE RTE OF FLT AND DEST. THE BRIEFER TOLD ME THAT THERE WERE RPTS OF LIGHT TO MODERATE RIME ICE IN THE AREA AND THAT TO THE E OF MY DEST; THERE WERE RPTS OF SEVERE ICING. AS I CROSSED INTO OHIO AT 9000 FT; I ENTERED THE CLOUDS; SHORTLY AFTER I WAS CLRED DOWN TO 4000 FT. I DSNDED TO 4000 FT BUT WAS PICKING UP LIGHT TRACES OF RIME ICE SO I ASKED FOR LOWER AND WAS GIVEN 3000 FT. ORIGINALLY; I HAD ASKED FOR THE GPS RWY 9 APCH INTO UYF BUT THE WINDS FAVORED RWY 27 SO I SWITCHED TO THE GPS RWY 27 APCH. I AM UNFAMILIAR WITH THE GPS IN MR X'S AIRPLANE SO I HAD SOME PROBS SWITCHING THE APCH IN THE GPS; DURING THIS TIME I ASKED FOR VECTORS TO UHAGY WAYPOINT. WHILE I WAS TRYING TO GET EVERYTHING SET UP WITH THE GPS AND THE AUTOPLT; I LOST ALT. THE LOSS IN ALT WAS DUE IN PART TO FOCUSING TOO MUCH ON THE AUTOMATION AND ALSO BECAUSE I GOT VERTIGO. I WENT DOWN TO ABOUT 2000 FT MSL BEFORE THE CTLR CAME ON AND TOLD ME THAT I WAS LOW AND TO CLB AND MAINTAIN 3000 FT. I WAS ALSO STARTING TO PICK UP ICE ON THE LEADING EDGE; WHICH DISTRACTED ME EVEN FURTHER. ONCE I QUIT TRYING TO GET THE AUTOPLT TO BAIL ME OUT AND I WAS ABLE TO GET THE GPS TO DO WHAT I WANTED I WAS ABLE TO FIND MY IAF AND FLY THE APCH. THE CAUSE OF THIS EVENT WAS DUE TO SEVERAL FACTORS: 1) I DID NOT ANTICIPATE THE WX BEING SO BAD. 2) I AM NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE GPS IN THE ACFT. 3) I AM NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE AUTOPLT IN THE ACFT. 4) THIS WAS MY FIRST FLT INTO IMC AND MYSELF AS THE ONLY PLT. I LEARNED SEVERAL VALUABLE LESSONS FROM THIS EXPERIENCE: 1) I SHOULD HAVE FILED AN ALTERNATE; THE FORECASTS ARE NOT ALWAYS PERFECT. 2) KNOW THE EQUIP THAT YOU WILL BE USING; NOTHING IS WORSE THAN BEING IN A BAD SIT AND NOT KNOWING HOW TO USE THE TOOLS AVAILABLE TO YOU TO RESOLVE THE PROB. 3) ACTUAL IMC IS A LOT DIFFERENT THAN SIMULATED IMC USING THE FOGGLES. I REALIZE THAT I NEED MORE TIME SPENT IN ACTUAL CONDITIONS WITH A QUALIFIED INSTRUCTOR BEFORE I GO INTO HARD IMC ALONE.