PA-28 Cherokee/Archer/Dakota/Pillan/Warrior
Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Private
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 18; Flight Crew Total 972; Flight Crew Type 972
Other / Unknown
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence
Flight Crew Landed As Precaution; Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft; Weather
I arrived at the airport an hour an a half before the flight and got a standard weather briefing and filed an IFR flight plan. When I tried to start my plane I found that I had left the master switch on and the battery was dead. I had the FBO jump the plane and got it started. We departed and were soon into IMC. We climbed to our assigned altitude of 6;000 FT and set up for cruse configuration. I soon realized that my Garmin 430 did not appear to be working correctly and we came into turbulence. I noticed that the readout on my GPS seemed to freeze. At that point the combination of the malfunction and the turbulence was too much because I had lost altitude and was attempting to recover back to 6;000 FT. At that point I could see VFR conditions below me and I decided to go to a lower altitude. I informed the Atlanta Controller what I was doing and I was going to return to TYS VFR. I used my GPS to return to TYS but when I was taxing after landing I noticed that the GPS had rebooted. I have not had a chance to check it out yet but I am wondering if the GPS was damaged when I jump started the airplane. I had completed a VOR check in the last 30 days and had recently completed an IFR currency check as I was out of currency because of having a back operation.
PA28 pilot discovers that the master switch has been left on and the battery is depleted. A jump start is requested from the FBO and the reporter departs on an IFR flight plan into IMC. The Garmin 430 is found to not be operating properly and the reporter requests descent to VFR and returns to the departure airport.