I decided to try the flight out to Astoria again. The Seattle area has pretty reliable IMC much of the time, and when I started out, conditions were just above VFR minimums. I flew the same route as on the previous trip, out to CARRO and then down to OLM, and from there along V187 to AST at 6000.
As I approached AST, I turned to a heading of 077 towards the PEN NDB. I started my descent to 4300 feet as I began a procedure turn just beyond PEN. It was quite easy to get down to 4300 feet and stay within the recommended 10-nm radius for the turn. Establishment on the ILS was very smooth. Winds were a bit gusty, but visibility improved as I descended, and I had the field in sight a few miles out. About a mile out, I disengaged the AP and hand-flew the landing, which went very smoothly.
So it went well this time. I shall look for other IFR procedure challenges in the future.
