Noisy sail

[Chewspit]

 I have a widow NG With a very noisy sale is there something wrong with the adjustment?

[szobelda]

In fast winds the Widow NG is noisy.

The noise is caused by the sail's vibrations. This is one of the ways to slow down stumt kites in order to allow the pilot better control and easier tricking.

I had one (and loved it) but I can not remember if the leech line's tension can be adjusted in order to reduce the noise.

I hope this helps 🙃

[midibot]

I believe the NG version of the Widow has no leech line. Or at least mine doesn't. (My version sewn by Level One, which is a definite upgrade over the entry level Premier version, does have one. So the sound and flight performance may be tuned.) 

It may be that it was at least in part a deliberate move to keep the Premier kite in the more affordable range, but that is just a guess.

Personally, I prefer quieter kites for most of the places I fly, where I don't want to be too obtrusive.

Some kites are just made loud from the get-go, and my old NSR is one of them . No leech line.

There may be a place for them, and there are people who like the noise.

Chacun à son goût.

To each their own!

PS: somewhere there is (or was) a thread on one of the forums discussing a retroactive addition of a leech line. So there's that possibility. For clarification, the leech line is a line, usually spectra, threaded through the trailing edge seam of the kite sail. Some kites use other methods to reduce the flutter.

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[Breezin]

Doug Stout and friends were at the start of leach lines. Since GWTW is gone his thread on the how and why is lost. He makes some really cool gliders and is still active. Contact him and you'll learn all there is to know. Noise can also help in learning the timing of tricks as the sail loads and unloads in the higher winds. Don't think that's intentional just a plus.

[midibot]

19 hours ago, midibot said:

[...]

PS: somewhere there is (or was) a thread on one of the forums discussing a retroactive addition of a leech line. So there's that possibility. For clarification, the leech line is a line, usually spectra, threaded through the trailing edge seam of the kite sail. Some kites use other methods to reduce the flutter.

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Update: a little search of this site produced a number of threads discussing the noise of early Widow versions, and whether and how to address it. 

Here is a thread discussing installation of a leech line on a kite which lacks it. The author of this makes specific reference in other threads to doing this on his Premier Widow as well, with success. Granted, it may be the pre-NG version, but it may prove a useful modification, not only for the sound, but possibly performance as well:

Installing a Leech Line Step by Step Tutorial

https://kitelife.com/forum/topic/3240-installing-a-leech-line-step-by-step-tutorial/?tab=comments#comment-21325

Hth

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