Narrative:

During a short day VFR business flight at the end of the working day; flight from ZZZ to O69; a distance of about 15 NM. Total time of flight was about 10 minutes. Departure was day VMC; no clouds and visibility a typically clear california day; easily 20 miles. As soon as I reached 500' climbing out of ZZZ; I could see the environment of O69; the destination airport. I saw a thin layer of cloud creeping in from the pacific coast towards the 2400' hill to the east of O69. This is a typical occurrence at O69 as cool marine air slides through a break in the coastal hills. From about six miles out I was under that layer; at about 1000' MSL; or 900' AGL. I could see the airport; and descended smoothly to a normal landing on runway 11. The cloud layer was lower over O69 than at 5 miles out; and by the time I was on 2 mile final; I was at or in the bottom of the layer at 700' MSL. I kept ground contact and greater than 5 miles horizontal visibility; however; I was unable to maintain the required cloud separation below the thin layer. I knew at the time that this was a bad idea. I knew that I 'had' to get home; or else go back to ZZZ or onward to another nearby airport -- ZZZ1 is usually clear longer than O69 as the evening cloud rolls in -- but I kept on. Certainly a factor in that decision was knowing that my car was in the hangar at O69 while getting a ride from another airport would be tough at 8 pm. I know the 'right' thing to have done was to have a plan in advance -- but I did not consider the clouds at O69 as the day had been cavu when I left a few hours earlier; the departure airport was still clear; and so I 'assumed' there would be no problem getting home. Besides; O69 does not report weather; of reporting airports ZZZ is the most reliable predictor of conditions at O69. Still; I could have checked ZZZ2 and ZZZ1; both give a good hint of O69's weather conditions. After landing I drove past ZZZ2 and it was clear. I could see east to the area of ZZZ2; and it; too; was still clear; though clouds were starting to form towards the coast. I made two serious errors; in retrospect. One; I did not have a 'plan B' worked out in advance. Two; I did not adhere to my personal minimums which certainly don't include scud-running at 900 AGL. During final few minutes of flight I told myself (1) I am not going below 700' (600 AGL!) until within a mile of the airport and (2) if I have to I am climbing straight ahead -- the tops were at about 1200 MSL (illegal IFR!) neither of those were good plans; to put it lightly. I suppose they were marginally better plans than telling myself 'I am going to land at O69 no matter what.' neither was a plan I would have considered during pre-flight so clearly the pressure to get home was clouding my judgment. The lesson for me; the reason I am writing this notice; is to resolve to work out in my mind a proper response ahead of time. This is not a new or novel revelation; we're told to plan our flight and fly our plan from earliest training. I got sucked into a classic 'gotcha' by a short flight; one I make weekly; in apparently great weather. It is sobering to see what one will do and what will will decide on the spot;in the absence of a good plan; even with the best of long-held intentions to fly carefully; legally and safely. In the future I'll try to treat my short 'routine' hops within a county with the same care I apply to a cross-country flight covering several states.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A light aircraft pilot reported scud running to get home when he encountered low clouds at his destination.

Narrative: During a short day VFR business flight at the end of the working day; flight from ZZZ to O69; a distance of about 15 NM. Total time of flight was about 10 minutes. Departure was day VMC; no clouds and visibility a typically clear California day; easily 20 miles. As soon as I reached 500' climbing out of ZZZ; I could see the environment of O69; the destination airport. I saw a thin layer of cloud creeping in from the Pacific coast towards the 2400' hill to the east of O69. This is a typical occurrence at O69 as cool marine air slides through a break in the coastal hills. From about six miles out I was under that layer; at about 1000' MSL; or 900' AGL. I could see the airport; and descended smoothly to a normal landing on runway 11. The cloud layer was lower over O69 than at 5 miles out; and by the time I was on 2 mile final; I was at or in the bottom of the layer at 700' MSL. I kept ground contact and greater than 5 miles horizontal visibility; however; I was unable to maintain the required cloud separation below the thin layer. I knew at the time that this was a bad idea. I knew that I 'had' to get home; or else go back to ZZZ or onward to another nearby airport -- ZZZ1 is usually clear longer than O69 as the evening cloud rolls in -- but I kept on. Certainly a factor in that decision was knowing that my car was in the hangar at O69 while getting a ride from another airport would be tough at 8 pm. I know the 'right' thing to have done was to have a plan in advance -- but I did not consider the clouds at O69 as the day had been CAVU when I left a few hours earlier; the departure airport was still clear; and so I 'assumed' there would be no problem getting home. Besides; O69 does not report weather; of reporting airports ZZZ is the most reliable predictor of conditions at O69. Still; I could have checked ZZZ2 and ZZZ1; both give a good hint of O69's weather conditions. After landing I drove past ZZZ2 and it was clear. I could see east to the area of ZZZ2; and it; too; was still clear; though clouds were starting to form towards the coast. I made two serious errors; in retrospect. One; I did not have a 'plan B' worked out in advance. Two; I did not adhere to my personal minimums which certainly don't include scud-running at 900 AGL. During final few minutes of flight I told myself (1) I am not going below 700' (600 AGL!) until within a mile of the airport and (2) if I have to I am climbing straight ahead -- the tops were at about 1200 MSL (illegal IFR!) Neither of those were good plans; to put it lightly. I suppose they were marginally better plans than telling myself 'I am going to land at O69 no matter what.' Neither was a plan I would have considered during pre-flight so clearly the pressure to get home was clouding my judgment. The lesson for me; the reason I am writing this notice; is to resolve to work out in my mind a proper response ahead of time. This is not a new or novel revelation; we're told to plan our flight and fly our plan from earliest training. I got sucked into a classic 'gotcha' by a short flight; one I make weekly; in apparently great weather. It is sobering to see what one will do and what will will decide on the spot;in the absence of a good plan; even with the best of long-held intentions to fly carefully; legally and safely. In the future I'll try to treat my short 'routine' hops within a county with the same care I apply to a cross-country flight covering several states.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.