I know, I know. I said that I would not be back but if I hear of a father and son dying in a helicopter crash in the near future I will be asking myself if perhaps I could have done more to prevent it so here goes:
If you go IIMC as an inexperienced, unrated, VFR pilot it means that you were either flying just below a low cloud base or in poor visibility or probably both. It is not a pleasant sensation as it was unexpected, disorienting and you have to make a decision - quickly. You now have 3 choices before panic sets in.
1. Lower the collective and hope for the best. Not a great choice as you were close to the ground with little forward visibility and you don't know what is ahead.
2. Turn 180 degrees and hope to regain VMC. A better choice as you know what was behind you BUT you stand a very good chance of becoming disoriented and losing control with little space to recover if you find yourself becoming VMC upside down at 200' agl. You will probably die of severe trauma but you could find yourself trapped and burn to death.
3. Climb to LSALT and give a MAYDAY call. It is an emergency and will get attention. Best case scenario - you maintain control, you know what LSALT is, you reach it and are visual, you find a gap or someone hears you, identifies you, sends someone to guide you down, you have enough fuel, you manage to descent to VMC and land. I doubt that will happen. More likely you probably have no idea what LSALT is, if you do you might lose control before you get there and even if you get there you might still be IMC and in the winter in freezing conditions. You lose control, keep the PTT pressed and some poor ATC bod will hear your and your passengers screaming all the way down.
Do yourself, your son and your poor friends and realtives a favour. If the weather looks dodgy - stay at home.