Originally Posted by nigel
I flew up from London to Birmingham in a small aircraft a few years back. I was piloting the aircraft. The flight up was uneventful and the weather was beautifully clear. On the way back was a different story, cloudbase starting at about 1500ft in the local area, but clear further down south.
Most interesting and as a fellow pilot I fully understand. Do you have an IMC rating or even an IFR rating? It sounds to me as if the conditions certainly didn't permit a VFR flight to return....
However, I am amazed it had that much of an effect. However, in terms of what Spotwelder stated, I can honestly believe older aircraft are more susceptible to interference than modern airliners. I used to fly PA28's which were 60's in design and wouldn't be at all surprised if more susceptible to intereference. The Diamond DA40 I now fly is like something from a different world, especially with the inbuilt GPS 'for basic not to be used for navigation guidance'.
Furthermore, space in a light aircraft is at a premium so everyone is relatively close to the avionics, unlike a commercial aircraft.
At the end of the day, I wouldn't be surprised if every flight taking off in the UK has at least one passenger onboard who has inadvertently left their mobile switched on.