<<My personal opinion is that IFR is only for professional pilots who
receive a lot of recurrent training, flying multi-engine high altitude,
with the best deice equipment and have an equally rated and trained
co-pilot. Actual (IMC) IFR is not for single engine, low time pilots
who dream of going IMC.>>

Baloney.  Sort of.  I agree that launching into real weather (moderate
turbulence, heavy rain, embedded thunderstorms and icing) is best left to those with
aircraft that can handle it and pilots with plenty of recent experience, with
another pilot to share the workload (or at least to be scared alongside you).
 But I also agree with Mike Reinath who points out that there are many times
when the weather isn't *bad*, it's just below VFR minimums.  The California
marine layer is a classic example.  Smooth as glass, no meteorological hazards,
but if you can't fly through it -- well, you just don't fly.  Much safer to do
an IFR approach through a marine layer than scud run.

Further, the military aero clubs do not allow their members to fly VFR at
night unless they have instrument ratings.  Their safety record puts our civilian
safety record to shame.  I never flew at night until I got my IFR ticket, and
now I know why they're so picky.  May not be a factor near cities, but in
rural California, VFR-at-night just ain't so.  You need to fly with reference to
instruments to stay upright and alive.  So the IFR ticket helps you there, too.

I'm a fairly low-time IFR pilot that was doing so in a Cessna 150.  You just
can't handle much weather in that humble little airplane, and I hate
turbulence, and I'm also just-plain-chicken, so I never launched into "hard IFR"
without an instructor.  But I flew IFR many times -- what I did was perfectly safe
and I intend to stay within these limitations as I fly my Lancair IFR.

If you think it's dangerous, don't do it.  I think flying IFR in moderate
weather is dangerous for me, but not for someone else with more experience in a
bigger plane.  Even if it's single engine solo.  The key part is to know your
own limits and stick with them.

- Rob Wolf