Originally Posted by
rsvpInBright
I'd be curious to know why it is illegal? The AIP states (for IFR flight) that terrain avoidance is the pilot's responsibility when departing on other than a SID or other procedure until least safe altitude is reached. Given I've been doing this for decades, I would very dearly like to know where it is illegal? Whether it is safe is of course open to debate (as for everything in aviation).
Actually whether it's safe or not is exactly what a court would debate. If at any point you are deemed to have posed a hazard to anything on the ground by risking impact due to unsafe flight in IMC you have breached the first rule of flight club. Whether you get away with it or not is of no consequence regards to being charged in the future. People speed all the time, only a small portion are caught and fined.
As far as departure IFR it is a greyish area. Basically it depends where take-off is deemed to have finished, from that point you are required to be above a safe altitude unless you are compliant with an approved departure procedure or in day VMC. So if the cloud is below MSA/LSALT at YPOK, you would probably not be legal to depart until you can climb in VMC by day to the LSALT/MSA.
Step down procedure for NVFR, is just a visual replotting of the LSALT. Once you pass a critical obstacle you can lower your LSALT if possible, however it must still be 10nm/1000ft around the aircraft to the destination, so YPOK will still have an incredibly high LSALT probably 7000ft or 8000ft, assuming it had lights.