Fractured Axel

but, besides reducing trailing edge wear, what is the point of a "trick line"?

Plenty of older kites had such an article, and the Gemini does still... but now I think about it I really can't see a reason for it. I can only see it as a hinderance to tricks...

Please enlighten me as to why it seemed appropriate, and why it was named so.

To stop tip wraps ?

It changes the shape of the Gem - pulls those wingtips in and increases
the curvature of the leading edges ... as least it does on my Minigem (and
also fails to prevent tip wraps - the MG is a tip wrap nightmare for me).

-Frazer

Infinitive wrote:

Please enlighten me as to why it seemed appropriate, and why it was named so.

You have to place this within the context of when it came into being. Back then (and we're talking about '93 or thereabouts) tricks meant the Axel and little else.

Now... you try to Axel a kite from the early '90s with the flying skills from that time. It added up to an alarming tendency to do it very poorly. The hardware was big and clunky too. Anything that reduced tip or spine wraps was a good idea. The trick line was pretty much essential to some kites if you wanted to Axel without it being followed by a brief stroll to recover your stricken kite from a tangled knot of line. No trick line, no tricks.

Of course quite a few people found that they interfered with the other, newer tricks as they were discovered so the trick line was modified. Incut trick lines (W-shaped, attaching to the standoffs - some charlatan even tried to name it "the Dodd Line" ), Active Trick Lines (ie; with a piece of bungee), even ones that looped between the LS connector, wingtip and spine.... lots of stuff was tried - all to keep the tip wrap protection but reduce interference.

Very few kites use these lines as necessary structural elements. The Stranger did, the Box of Tricks needs it too. Geminis can get away without them.

To be honest the TE defence is a side-effect that means the line is still (sometimes) used rather than its primary function. The first kite that I recall that actively avoided the trick line would be the Prism Illusion from '97 (you know... the good one). So there was only quite a small window where it was a trick line, not a sail-saver line.

Mike.

The trick line is also a "structural element" in the Psycho.

Most modern kites with a "high aspect ratio" reduce line fouling tendency by the nature of their design.

Great, thanks for another snippet of your encyclopaedic knowledge Mike.

The Dodd line indeed!

Zippy8 wrote:

......Very few kites use these lines as necessary structural elements. .....the Box of Tricks needs it too.....

Hey Mike,

Would you be a lamb and enlighten me as to what good use the trick line is to the Box of Tricks? I've been flying mine without one since the week after I got it and would like to know what I've been missing out on.

M ark wrote:

Would you be a lamb and enlighten me as to what good use the trick line is to the Box of Tricks? I've been flying mine without one since the week after I got it and would like to know what I've been missing out on.

It's not necessary as a structural element, if there is one fitted it should be fairly loose (i.e. not pulling the wingtips in). You will get a lot more line snags around the wingtips without it, and as the Box won't lock into a turtle position anyway there's not much to gain by removing the line.

M ark wrote:

Zippy8 wrote:

......Very few kites use these lines as necessary structural elements. .....the Box of Tricks needs it too.....

Would you be a lamb and enlighten me as to what good use the trick line is to the Box of Tricks?

Baaaa.

I blame premature senility but according to this thread from a bloke who should damn well know... it really wasn't a structural item. Maybe mine was a little tight then as it did seem to hold the tips together in extremis.

Move along. Nothing to see here.

Mike.

It also stopped bridles (especially turbos) from hooking around the tail of the spine. But then someone cleverly thought about keeper lines on bridles

Zippy8 wrote:

M ark wrote:

Zippy8 wrote:

......Very few kites use these lines as necessary structural elements. .....the Box of Tricks needs it too.....

Would you be a lamb and enlighten me as to what good use the trick line is to the Box of Tricks?

Baaaa.

I blame premature senility but according to this thread from a bloke who should damn well know... it really wasn't a structural item. Maybe mine was a little tight then as it did seem to hold the tips together in extremis.

Move along. Nothing to see here.

Mike.

props on the xkcd avatar