The basic concept of couterbalancing scenery with weight. It is the most common form of fly system in theatres today. The counterweight system is one of the safest and simplest means of
flying scenery. By pulling a rope, the scenery will fly up (out) or down (in). As long as the system is balanced within 25 to 50 pounds, anyone can operate it.
The operator of a counterweight system has one rope which controls the height of the batten being moved. This ropes connects from the bottom of the arbor, wraps down and back up around the bottom idler, circles the head block and is tied off at the top of the arbor. Thus, the operator has two means of controlling the height of the arbor, and thus, the height of the batten to which it is connected. See purchase line to learn more about controlling a counterweight system.
Part of the Stage Rigging Metanode