LOSS OF ACFT CTL; ALTDEV ALT EXCURSION.

Narrative

ON THIS DAY I WAS FERRYING AN ACFT ALONG THE E COAST. TO BE ABLE TO USE A MORE DIRECT RTE I WAS USING A GPS. A STATIONARY FRONT WAS IN MY WAY AND; AS I WAS GETTING CLOSER TO IT; I REQUESTED AN IFR CLRNC. IT WAS GIVEN TO ME WITHOUT DELAY AND I ENTERED THE CLOUDS. RIGHT AWAY I KNEW SOMETHING WAS WRONG. FOR SOME REASON THE HDG DIDN'T MAKE SENSE TO ME. MY DIRECTIONAL GYROSCOPE; MAGNETIC COMPASS; AND GPS WERE SHOWING 3 DIFFERENT THINGS. I TOLD THE CTLR THAT I HAD A HARD TIME VERIFYING MY HDG. INSTEAD OF PUSHING THROUGH THE WX I HAD IN FRONT OF ME; I ALSO REQUESTED TO CHANGE MY DEST. I WANTED TO GO BACK AND LAND AT AN ARPT THAT I HAD PASSED; WHERE I KNEW I HAD A GOOD CHANCE OF GETTING A VISUAL APCH. THE CTLR HAD NO PROB WITH THIS AND STARTED GIVING ME NO GYROSCOPE VECTORS. AS I WAS FIGURING OUT MY CURRENT POS AND MY NEW CLRNC; MY ATTITUDE INDICATOR FAILED. WHILE ALL THIS WAS GOING ON; I LOST PRIORITY #1: FLYING THE AIRPLANE. I DIDN'T PAY ENOUGH ATTN TO THE ATTITUDE OF THE AIRPLANE. THIS LED TO THAT I PUT MYSELF IN AN UNUSUAL ATTITUDE WITH 1500 FT OF ALT LOSS BEFORE I COULD RECOVER. I TOLD THE CTLR THAT I HAD SOME PROBS. HE ASSIGNED ME A NEW ALT AND INFORMED ME THAT THERE WAS ANOTHER ARPT CLOSER BY THAT RPTED VFR. I GLADLY ACCEPTED THIS IDEA. FROM THIS POINT; I ONLY CONCENTRATED ON FLYING THE AIRPLANE. I WAS GIVEN AN ASR APCH AND LANDED SAFELY. I HAVE BEEN THROUGH THE EVENT A MILLION TIMES IN MY MIND. I GIVE MYSELF AN F MINUS FOR MY PERFORMANCE. A COMBINATION OF NOT QUICKLY ENOUGH RECOGNIZING WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THE AIRPLANE AND GETTING MY PRIORITIES WRONG LED TO THIS VERY MUCH UNDESIRABLE SIT. I KNOW NOW THAT I LOST MY DIRECTIONAL GYROSCOPE AND ATTITUDE INDICATOR. THE GPS DIDN'T SHOW THE CORRECT HDG BECAUSE IT WAS ONLY RECEIVING 2 OUT OF 3 REQUIRED SATELLITES. THEREFORE; IT WAS NOT UPDATING ITSELF AND WAS STILL SHOWING MY OLD HDG. UP UNTIL I ENTERED THE CLOUDS I HAD USED THE GPS AS PRIMARY FOR HDG. I HAD IT SET UP 'DIRECT TO' AND THEN POINTED THE NOSE VISUALLY AT SOMETHING IN THE HORIZON. LOOKING OUT THE WINDOW AND ONLY LOOKING DOWN TO CHK THAT I WAS STILL ON TRACK; VERIFYING MY POS WITH VOR RADIALS. IN THIS PHASE OF THE FLT I WAS PAYING VERY LITTLE ATTN TO THE DIRECTIONAL GYROSCOPE OR THE MAGNETIC COMPASS. AS I LOST MY DIRECTIONAL GYROSCOPE AND THE GPS WAS NOT UPDATING ITSELF; FOR SOME REASON; I DID NOT TRUST THE MAGNETIC COMPASS. I KNOW TODAY THAT THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I SHOULD HAVE DONE. AS I LANDED IT APPEARED TO SHOW CORRECT HDGS. ALL OF THIS GOT ME CONFUSED AND SHORTLY THEREAFTER WHEN THE ATTITUDE INDICATOR FAILED; I WAS TOO DISTRACTED TO NOTICE WHAT I WAS DOING TO THE AIRPLANE. THE ONLY POSITIVE THING I CAN THINK OF ABOUT THIS IS THAT I LEARNED A LOT.