Leechline & Trickline

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[B-13]

Dear all,
I can understand from these two that they are added to the kite for more flexibility and increase capabilities of the kite.
Can someone please explain the difference between the two lines and how they add advantages to kites.
An explanation on how to install them and will help me and those who want to know. I owe the Prism Hypnotist and i'm happy with it right now.
May be someday when i master all the nice tricks i will install the lines and see how better i can get with them or without.

Thanks

Bryan

[inewham]

A leechline is a line, usually something like 150lb spectra, threaded through the tunnel created by the trailing edge hem. It is pulled *just* tight and helps stop the trailing edge vibrating in flight so reducing that rasping noise you get on kites with slack trailing edges. If its quiet I expect your Prism has one sewn in but maybe a Hypnotist owner can confirm this.
If they're pulled too tight the trailing edge will become cupped which tends to mess up the flight characteristics a little.


A trickline is an external line run from wingtip to spine, or sometimes wingtip-standoff-spine on each side. Usually done with bridle line. They were pouplar in the late 90s as a way of helping stop you r lines snagging on the wingtips during axels and flat spins but they impair lazy susans (with certain exceptions) so they are much less popular now. In fact its pretty rare to see one these days.

HTH

[AKA_MrBill]

A leechline is a line, usually something like 150lb spectra, threaded through the tunnel created by the trailing edge hem. It is pulled *just* tight and helps stop the trailing edge vibrating in flight so reducing that rasping noise you get on kites with slack trailing edges. If its quiet I expect your Prism has one sewn in but maybe a Hypnotist owner can confirm this.
......

I just took a look at my Hypno. Nope, no leechline in it from the factory. I guess I know one of the upgrades I'll do to it shortly! It's down for repairs right now anyway, so what the heck.

[Allen Carter]

If it aint broke, don't fix it. Unless the kite is really noisy and you have to fly in on sunday morning in front of a church, then it will not benefit from a leech line. If it IS noisy, that is usually the result of a design decision, at least on mid and high end kites. The loose sail causes drag and slows the kite. You can really mess up a kite trying to quiet it.

A trick line is anachronistic. Even on kites that were designed with them they are often not needed, or there is a cleaner work around. In a lot of cases they are there to keep the bridle from wrapping around the keel, which, unlike a tip wrap, is difficult to recover from. A lot of kites these days have shorter and/or more complex bridles and shorter/broader keels. Adding keeper lines to the bridles of old school kites normally negates the functionality of a trick line. Some old kites need a trick line to keep from getting stuck in a turtle. The line keeps them from falling back too far. These kites are generally not designed for turtle based tricks, so dump the trick line and dont let it go on it's back. A few old kites are really tough to recover from tip wraps due to winglets or other design issues. Generally speaking these old kites are so un-tricky that the trick line doesn't hurt anything. But if you're not doing tricks you won't get tipwraps, so who cares.

So, leave the leach line to the kite designer and if a kite didn't come with a trick line it's because you don't need it.

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