> >I had a push primer in my VP and have one in my 172, >I have failed to lock it and didn;t notice any problem. >Steve Bray ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Steve, You may just be lucky or your fuel systems tolerate the unlocked primer better than others. A good friend of mine, who has over 1000 hours of flight time and has built five airplanes, had trouble with my Tripacer primer on two occasions . It was not fully closed and locked and caused a fuel leak on the ground after shutdown and very rough engine while taxiing in. I suspect it was compensated for in flight by leaning the mixture which he did on a regular basis. I suspect it was closed at startup but not locked and opened a bit during flight. As for priming during cranking, since my cowl fire I'm all for priming with the engine turning over if you can manage with the setup you have. I now use my accelerator pump on the throttle to prime with the engine cranking. Not all carbs have the accelerator pump so that may not be an option for everyone. Someone mentioned they were surprised at all the post generated by the primer issue. You never know what pushes someone's hot button. I attended a meeting once with our entire service team where we had many business issues to cover. The item that pushed everyone's hot button was washing the company vehicles. My manager left the meeting shaking his head in disbelief. Larry Flesner
