Cabotage Kid,
By my reckoning there is a 500 foot window of opportunity for VNC beneath MSA.
You can't fly closer than 500 feet to any structure and the MSA is generally 1000' above the highest structure/obstacle. Hence I figure if the cloud base is at MSA you have 500 foot to play with, any lower than MSA and you limit the available airspace (assuming you don't just meander through the tall obstacles 500' from the ground!)
Just my thoughts,
Murphy,
Whilst in my IF infancy, from a learning point of view the following may be of note for you. The Arrow is quite a bit quicker than a 152 and thus 2 main things will affect you. Firstly you will cover the ground a bit quicker which will require more effort to keep ahead of the plane. Secondly, a rate 1 turn at higher speeds is far greater radius, meaning you will need to be more accurate when intercepting radials and the ILS. Whilst both are slight negatives, I found the warrior (and therefore the Arrow I would summise) to be great for IMC work because it is a far more stable aircraft than a 152 = less work needed to hold headings (Oh and rudder trim is very usefull). I would suggest that you get very familiar with the cockpit because cockpit management is a nightmare with a hood/goggles on. You have no peripheral vision so knowing where switches, gauges etc. are helps big time and again cuts down on your workload.
Oh and finally, if anyone else is currently doing their IMC rating, please feel free to post on this thread as knowledge shared is better than knowledge kept.
Regards
Obs cop
PS At least I can then laugh with other's misfortune.