The pilot never declared an emergency, but at some point it might have begun to strike the controller that all was not well aboard the RV-10. As the course and altitude deviations multiply, it becomes increasingly apparent that this flight is a special case. Either a noninstrument pilot who is faking it has gotten in over his head, or a pilot who is qualified and equipped as required is somehow hampered in his execution of what should be simple maneuvers.
The pilot’s indecision, his requests first for an airport with an ILS and then for one where the ceiling was 2,000 feet or better, and his failure to explain to the controller what was going on all suggested a potentially precarious situation. The pilot is having trouble controlling the airplane, and he is grasping at anything that might simplify an instrument approach — which, with a 1,000-foot ceiling, should not be a challenging approach to begin with. He needs help.
