In the late sixties, I was in my twenties (200 hours) and flying from France to attend an air meeting in Ravenna, Italy, the sister town of Chartres my home base.
Flying VFR in a Robin, only equiped with a VOR and limited channels VHF.
The MET office at Torino, a stop to refuel after crossing the Alpes, advised us that some heavy thunderstorms laid on our route to Ravenna. The only « safe » way was to fly northward, avoid Milano international and neighbouring south of Lago Maggiore, to reach our destination.
I had only a big VFR chart of northern Italy with main roads and VOR (In those days it was not as esay as today to get a foreign country map).
Due to a lowering ceiling, I flew using compass and the VOR signal because I could not recognised the ground I was overflying. Early enough, the wisdom would have been to turn around ..
I was so low, I couldn't receive a VOR signal anylonger.
Then everything went very dark and rainy everywhere around. I had no artificial horizon but was in IMC
It took me a few seconds to decide to land on a road or in a field : better wounded and alive than dead !
At two hundred feet high, scrutinating below, I suddenly overflow what seemed a paved runway.
Without hesitation, keeping an eye on it, I slowly turned around (no horizon, just a turn and bank) and landed.
What a relief !
Just clearing the runway and closing the engine on a taxiway (I couldn’t see where to go), I heard the sound of car brakes behind me, followed immediately by the run of two italian soldiers with machine guns pointing towards the plane :
I had landed on Ghedi Nato Air Base strictly forbidden, 3 miles away from Brescia airport !
While my two passengers were treated very comfortably in the Officer’s club with coffee (italian) and biscuits, I was questioned gently by the military and air police officers. Where from, why, what, etc..?
Though it was saturday afternoon the ministry of Defence in Roma, was requested to allow me to take off and continue to Ravenna ( or to be jailed ! as explained by the italian pilots who could not believe my story in spite of the stamp on my logbook ).
My cooperative behaviour and the very bad weather convinced them to let us pursue our journey.
Before we took off, I was reminded not to hesitate to call 121.5 in any case of emergency or trouble to request help, which I had not done (though I had the frequency on my radio).
Better have a ticket than a burial.
Cheers !