The counterweight system is much easier. Our college has this type of fly system. The difference is obvious; you use stage weights instead of sandbags to weight the batten. There are two types of weights. The thick ones are called "pigs". The thin ones are called "wafers". The pigs are about 30 pounds, or more sometimes, when the wafers are about 15 pounds. You can use both to weight a piece of scenery. With a counterweighted fly system, there are two different types: single purchase and double purchase. The single purchase consists of one loop of ¾" manila hemp rope which runs from the bottom of the weight arbor, down and around the tension pulley, up through the locking clamp, through the head block and is attached to the top of the weight arbor. The double purchase consists of an extra loop of rope which is attached to a pulley on the bottom of the weight arbor and goes through the same sequence as the single purchase system and then the other end is attached to a piece of metal on the back of the locking rail. You can think of the weight arbor being the clew in the counterweight system since all the lift lines are also connected to the top of it. With a single purchase rope set, you use an equal amount of weight to what is on the batten. With a double purchase rope set, you use twice the amount of weight to what is on the batten. We have 1 single purchase rope set and 23 double purchase rope sets. Our single purchase rope set is used strictly for lighting. It is our first lighting batten on stage. Lights take a lot of weight, and if we used a double purchase system, we would have to use a very huge number of stage weights to balance it. Plus the arbor has a given size and even with it being single purchase, the arbor is practically filled from top to bottom with pigs and wafers. Single purchase systems are used in theaters the most because the amount of weights is minimal. But the problem is that you need to put a lot of effort into getting the rope set started, especially when you need to fly out the batten with the items on it. It will feel heavy, but keep pulling and it will get easier. With double purchase, the scenery moves a ton easier and is better for your back since the extra piece of rope allows as an idler making the operator more pleased to work fly in a show.

The counterweight fly system lift lines consist of airplane cable, which is attached to the weight arbor with cable clamps at the top. The airplane cable runs up through the head block and then to the loft block which then runs through the grid to the batten where it is cable clamped off at equal distances down the length of it. That is basically how the system is put together. Airplane cable is tons stronger than manila hemp rope because it is made of steel. You are able to hang very heavy scenery on this kind of fly system without breaking the cable.

Most theaters have two levels for the fly system. The operating level is about 15 feet above the ground and consists of the locking clamps and the ropes you use to fly the scenery in and out of stage. The loading level is about 50 to 60 feet in the air. It is the easiest place to put the weights on the weight arbor since when the batten is in having scenery hung on it, the arbor is way up at the top of the system. Some theaters have two locking levels. One is on the floor and the other is 15 feet in the air. You can prevent a lot of accidents this way by locking off the ropes at the middle level just in case someone was to play with the floor level locks and try to fly a batten onto someone or mess up the fly system entirely. We only have two levels: a 15 foot fly rail, and a 50 foot loading level.

Updated 12/3/2001 by Brian Batiuk