Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172
Flight Crew Private; Flight Crew Instrument
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 4; Flight Crew Total 490; Flight Crew Type 490
Human-Machine Interface; Situational Awareness
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence; Inflight Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control; Inflight Event / Encounter Unstabilized Approach
Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance; Flight Crew Regained Aircraft Control
Weather; Aircraft; Human Factors
Flying C172 on an IFR flight from ZZZ to ZZZ. Was flying a RNAV approach to ZZZ. Soon after hand off to ZZZ Approach; I disconnected the autopilot when the aircraft was at about 4;000 feet AGL. At that time ATC advised to turn left to 220 heading to intercept initial approach fix. Right after disconnecting the auto pilot; the aircraft banked left steeply to about 60 degrees roll and started descending while the ATC keep advising to turn left and cleared me for the RNAV approach. The conditions were IMC and aircraft was hard to control. It took a few minutes to get the aircraft under control. The ATC workload obviously increased while not knowing the exact situation and even doubted at one point if the pilot (me) was IFR rated and current. Once I was finally able to get the aircraft stabilized; I informed ATC that I was having trouble with the controls and apologized. The flight ended safely after all at ZZZ. The probable cause was having an iPad mounted on the yoke. Will never mount the iPad on the yoke again.
C-172 pilot reported experiencing aircraft control difficulty caused by the yoke-mounted iPad.