Narrative:

Unable to get my clearance on the ground so I took off and picked it up in the air. Since I was having to write a bunch of stuff and this was my first ever filed instrument flight plan without an instructor I turned on the autopilot to keep me from wandering while communicating. My recollection of the exact sequence following is a bit fuzzy as I was very busy. Received my clearance; followed shortly by instruction to turn to another heading for traffic. I turned off the autopilot (I do not remember seeing the switch; may have done it by feel; not thinking that I possibly hit the identical feeling heading switch instead) and turned to that heading by hand. Was also juggling my enroute chart and approach plates at the same time (now wondering if perhaps I could have bumped an autopilot switch with them as they were in that general area). Shortly thereafter; I noticed that the controls felt very stiff. I believe I had decided that it was abnormal right when ATC was calling me to turn back on course. I declared an emergency right away; as I had no idea what the problem was; but wanted to get on the ground asap! I suggested immediate return to the departure aiport and was attempting to turn left against stiff resistance when they suggested ZZZ just off to my right. I turned right against same restriction. Checked OAT concerned that maybe water got in the controls and froze; but it showed 61 degrees F. Saw no other obstructions of the ailerons; but was very concerned that putting too much pressure may cause complete failure. Got turned straight at ZZZ; ATC helped me out greatly by calling ZZZ and also checking their pattern altitude with radar. On approach I gradually started to show to see if controls would stay the same. Noted that below 100 KTS; that it wanted to roll left some. Kept speed at 100 KTS down to short final. Never did get the CTAF dialed in; stayed with ATC until I lost contact with them on short final. Landing uneventful other than a stronger and stronger left rolling pressure felt on the yoke as I slowed. On rollout the yoke went full left. Taxi to parking and shutdown. Yoke came loose immediately on switching off master. Tested autopilot on the ground and it switched on/off perfectly fine. When on it exhibited exactly the resistance felt in flight. I will be having the autopilot checked by my a & P. All flight controls check out normally. No instruments were noted to be flagged at any time in flight or afterward. Should have tried cycling the autopilot in flight; but there was enough of a mental disconnect between he time I shut it off (or attempted to; still not clear on that) and when the problem was noticed; that I didn't think to cycle it. High workload of instrument flight plans; in VMC; and having to pickup clearance in the air combined with me being a nervous newly minted instrument pilot was using up a lot of my brain. Not a lot to spare for in-flight troubleshooting. Just wanted to get on the ground and sort it all out there. While I believe that it was just a case of either a dumb mistake by a nervous pilot (who rarely uses autopilot and is thus not super familiar with it); or an accidental activation of autopilot while shuffling papers; the autopilot will be inspected as well just to make sure. I will also be studying and participating with the autopilot (as well as general emergency procedures). On the plus side; I'm now much more comfortable talking to the fine folks of ATC!

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A brand new instrument rated Private Pilot suffered anxiety and declared an emergency when the flight controls stiffen up. ATC assisted in directing him to a nearby airport.

Narrative: Unable to get my clearance on the ground so I took off and picked it up in the air. Since I was having to write a bunch of stuff and this was my first ever filed instrument flight plan without an instructor I turned on the autopilot to keep me from wandering while communicating. My recollection of the exact sequence following is a bit fuzzy as I was very busy. Received my clearance; followed shortly by instruction to turn to another heading for traffic. I turned off the autopilot (I do not remember seeing the switch; may have done it by feel; not thinking that I possibly hit the identical feeling heading switch instead) and turned to that heading by hand. Was also juggling my enroute chart and approach plates at the same time (now wondering if perhaps I could have bumped an autopilot switch with them as they were in that general area). Shortly thereafter; I noticed that the controls felt very stiff. I believe I had decided that it was abnormal right when ATC was calling me to turn back on course. I declared an emergency right away; as I had no idea what the problem was; but wanted to get on the ground asap! I suggested immediate return to the departure aiport and was attempting to turn left against stiff resistance when they suggested ZZZ just off to my right. I turned right against same restriction. Checked OAT concerned that maybe water got in the controls and froze; but it showed 61 degrees F. Saw no other obstructions of the ailerons; but was very concerned that putting too much pressure may cause complete failure. Got turned straight at ZZZ; ATC helped me out greatly by calling ZZZ and also checking their pattern altitude with radar. On approach I gradually started to show to see if controls would stay the same. Noted that below 100 KTS; that it wanted to roll left some. Kept speed at 100 KTS down to short final. Never did get the CTAF dialed in; stayed with ATC until I lost contact with them on short final. Landing uneventful other than a stronger and stronger left rolling pressure felt on the yoke as I slowed. On rollout the yoke went full left. Taxi to parking and shutdown. Yoke came loose immediately on switching off master. Tested autopilot on the ground and it switched on/off perfectly fine. When on it exhibited exactly the resistance felt in flight. I will be having the autopilot checked by my A & P. All flight controls check out normally. No instruments were noted to be flagged at any time in flight or afterward. Should have tried cycling the autopilot in flight; but there was enough of a mental disconnect between he time I shut it off (or attempted to; still not clear on that) and when the problem was noticed; that I didn't think to cycle it. High workload of instrument flight plans; in VMC; and having to pickup clearance in the air combined with me being a nervous newly minted instrument pilot was using up a lot of my brain. Not a lot to spare for in-flight troubleshooting. Just wanted to get on the ground and sort it all out there. While I believe that it was just a case of either a dumb mistake by a nervous pilot (who rarely uses autopilot and is thus not super familiar with it); or an accidental activation of autopilot while shuffling papers; the autopilot will be inspected as well just to make sure. I will also be studying and participating with the autopilot (as well as general emergency procedures). On the plus side; I'm now much more comfortable talking to the fine folks of ATC!

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.