IFR on the Fly

I read allot of NTSB reports, you see allot of ATP rated pilots who "know
the area" and cancel IFR only to end up in the NTSB report for crashing.

the SAFE thing to do is to call center/ATC and tell them visibility just
went below VFR minimums and you would like to know if you can get a
instrument clearance from them.
I have done this in the past and had no problems, but you never can tell
untill you ask. the other option would be to call FSS on your radio and file
the IFR flight plan.

your 15 minutes out, so you have only about 12-14 minutes to go.

I took off from north las vegas a couple of months ago for a short hop, when
I turned around and came back, the area was fogged/smogged in and I did not
think I would have the visibility so I called Nellis approach and told them
I did not think I could continue VFR, they asked if I was instrument rated,
I told them yes, they took my information and gave me a clearance. They did
tell me they had some IFR departures and it would be about 10 minutes before
they could handle me and told me to could do some "boxes" or s-turns where I
was, But it went smoothly. I think allot of how it goes depends on the
controller, some controllers are not so, accomdating, and some are really
great.

"O. Sami Saydjari" wrote:

Let's say your 15 miles from your home airport in VMC, not on a flight
plan. You know the area well. On your way, unforecast conditions
(snow) causes visibility to start dropping below 3 miles. Ceilings are
at 1800. You are just below the ceiling. You know the area well enough
to do a contact approach safely, even though the MSA for the area is
3000 ft MSL (2000 ft AGL).

Seems like the right thing to do in such a situation is to call ATC,
tell them your situation (although I am not sure precisely what one
would say), and ask for an on-the-fly IFR contact approach clearance.
It seems like seeking a full IFR approach causes one to go up into the
clouds and risk icing, and so would be a less safe alternative.
Opinions?

-Sami
N2057M, Piper Turbo Arrrow III