Narrative:

A sequence of bad choices and events while delivering the plane I have enjoyed so long to its new owner. I had planned to leave some 3 hours before I did. Flight planning looked free and clear when I departed. The climb went smooth and I contacted ATC for flight following. At 17500 the ride was bumpy and I was over high terrain. I called ATC and asked if I could get higher. On oxygen and with a pulse oximeter I thought I never had this plane to ceiling and this would be my last flight in her. I asked for 25000. Cleared to climb I found a nice smooth and fast ride. I started studying my arrival and a controller suddenly ordered me to drop to 17000; this was right in the middle of the clouds I was flying above. He was rather aggressive in that order so I complied. When the radio reception started breaking up I called for permission to deviate as the clouds and icing conditions worsened. Before long I was faced with deciding to ignore what ATC requested of me or accept that ice was forming. This is not what I was expecting on a simple VFR flight. I announced this to ATC and got another controller that gave me permission to maneuver as needed and cleared me below the cloud layer. The ice melted; wings cleared and I tried to regain composure after such an event. The new controller asked me if I had the weather for ZZZ and I did have the metar off the G1000. At some point; I must have flopped channels on the radio and not realized it. When I made repeated calls to ATC I realized I was on the wrong frequency. I flopped over and the controller stated that they were trying to contact me. He gave me the number to call him. I called him and he explained that I descended without permission; we talked about what all had happened and I apologized for my mistakes. Looking back; I see that I inadvertently put myself in to and IFR situation this instant I asked for higher altitude. Being vectored into an instrument condition was defiantly not expected and while the authoritative voice of the controller intimidated me and hypoxia could have cluttered my judgment decisions that is not an excuse. I was not comfortable with this chain of events. The responsibility to maintain flight in a safe way is mine; and I have learned greatly from this event. My years of clear weather flying did not due me justice when flying in clouded mountainous areas. Additional training is exactly what I need and I will get. I have had instrument training but never officially finished. This is something I will do now for sure.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Cessna 400 pilot reported entering Class A airspace without an IFR clearance then IFR conditions when issued a descent.

Narrative: A sequence of bad choices and events while delivering the plane I have enjoyed so long to its new owner. I had planned to leave some 3 hours before I did. Flight planning looked free and clear when I departed. The climb went smooth and I contacted ATC for flight following. At 17500 the ride was bumpy and I was over high terrain. I called ATC and asked if I could get higher. On Oxygen and with a Pulse Oximeter I thought I never had this plane to ceiling and this would be my last flight in her. I asked for 25000. Cleared to climb I found a nice smooth and fast ride. I started studying my arrival and a controller suddenly ordered me to drop to 17000; this was right in the middle of the clouds I was flying above. He was rather aggressive in that order so I complied. When the radio reception started breaking up I called for permission to deviate as the clouds and icing conditions worsened. Before long I was faced with deciding to ignore what ATC requested of me or accept that ice was forming. This is not what I was expecting on a simple VFR flight. I announced this to ATC and got another controller that gave me permission to maneuver as needed and cleared me below the cloud layer. The ice melted; wings cleared and I tried to regain composure after such an event. The new controller asked me if I had the weather for ZZZ and I did have the METAR off the G1000. At some point; I must have flopped channels on the radio and not realized it. When I made repeated calls to ATC I realized I was on the wrong Frequency. I flopped over and the controller stated that they were trying to contact me. He gave me the number to call him. I called him and he explained that I descended without permission; we talked about what all had happened and I apologized for my mistakes. Looking back; I see that I inadvertently put myself in to and IFR situation this instant I asked for higher altitude. Being vectored into an instrument condition was defiantly not expected and while the authoritative voice of the controller intimidated me and Hypoxia could have cluttered my judgment decisions that is not an excuse. I was not comfortable with this chain of events. The responsibility to maintain flight in a safe way is mine; and I have learned greatly from this event. My years of clear weather flying did not due me justice when flying in clouded mountainous areas. Additional training is exactly what I need and I will get. I have had instrument training but never officially finished. This is something I WILL do now for sure.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.