Scenery is a very important part of any production in the theater. It is very nice if you are able to use a fly system to move the scenery in and out of stage. Most theaters have fly systems, but they have different ways of operating and setup. Any fly system consists of a batten, lift lines, loft block, head block, some kind of weight system, and a place to clamp and tie off the ropes so your scenery being flown will stay where you put it.

There are two basic types of fly systems: pin and rail, and counterweight. Both kinds of fly systems have a loft block and a head block. The loft block is located just above the "grid iron" or platform that is about 60 feet or so in the air, and it located closest to the fly rail or locking rail. Inside the loft block is a set of pulleys that hold the lift lines and allow the batten to fly completely controlled. The loft blocks very in size depending on how many lift lines you use to bring a batten in and out of stage safely and easily. The head block is located directly above the fly rail where the line set comes through and is weighted and tied off at the fly rail. In a counterweight system, you have the head block, but it has an extra larger pulley to hold the main rope used to fly the batten in and out.

Updated 12/3/2001 by Brian Batiuk