Flying a 1 oz crown

I am a lighting designer, for Easter my choir director wants to fly a crown of thorns from the front of the church sanctuary to the choir loft which is pretty far and I know that he wants to use heavy duty fishing line, has anyone done something like this in the past? and does anyone have any suggestions how to pull this off without it getting stuck or hitting someone?
 
We're going to need more info. Is your loft in the back of the sanctuary or up stage of the pulpit? I'm unfamiliar with this miracle happening in the story, so what's the intended effect? Is it the one he actually wears in the show? It floats in then they put it on his head? or it floats off his head after resurrection? Does he move around the stage? (read: will it need to unclip from its rigging a vista?)
 
First, When you say Heavy Duty Fishing line make sure you are talking about a braided Dacron line. Mono-filament is a big No-No when rigging tricks.

I can only see success by using a minimum of three attachments, one to pull it towards the choir loft and two connected from backstage/upstage are to stabilize it. You might get away with using just two lines if you attached one to pull it toward the choir lift and one, from above, bridled across the top lifting up. If you just put a single point front and back it's going to spin and look silly. So either way it's going to take a coordinated effort between a couple folks to pull off.
Not knowing the layout and the distances this whole Idea may just be goofy.
 
We're going to need more info. Is your loft in the back of the sanctuary or up stage of the pulpit? I'm unfamiliar with this miracle happening in the story, so what's the intended effect? Is it the one he actually wears in the show? It floats in then they put it on his head? or it floats off his head after resurrection? Does he move around the stage? (read: will it need to unclip from its rigging a vista?)
We're going to need more info. Is your loft in the back of the sanctuary or up stage of the pulpit? I'm unfamiliar with this miracle happening in the story, so what's the intended effect? Is it the one he actually wears in the show? It floats in then they put it on his head? or it floats off his head after resurrection? Does he move around the stage? (read: will it need to unclip from its rigging a vista?)
No one will be wearing it, it will be placed on a table with LED lights in it
 
So it sits in site,and then flys out over audience. The choir loft is there but its about over audience, not the choir loft specifically? So a battery and leds built into it? How long is travel? And how much elevation does it gain?
 
I am a lighting designer, for Easter my choir director wants to fly a crown of thorns from the front of the church sanctuary to the choir loft which is pretty far and I know that he wants to use heavy duty fishing line, has anyone done something like this in the past? and does anyone have any suggestions how to pull this off without it getting stuck or hitting someone?

I flew across I flew about across the house a couple of years ago for Dracula. Stretched a line across from the cat through the booth window and tied off to pipe on the backwall. One of the techs stood in the booth and cranked like mad on a fishing reel with a line attached to the bat. it pulled the bat across as it flaped its motorized wings.
 
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It depends on the total travel distance, elevation, and available fly space, but you could do it with two lines (or one long line with the object at a fixed point in the middle)

One line from the object to the destination, being reeled in by a technician. Another line from the object, up and back to a pipe/pulley, with a person backstage controlling the release of the line - essentially just providing enough friction that the crown won't fall to the floor.

NOTE: This drawing shows a weight backstage holding the line, you could make that work, but a person back there would be much easier.
 

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Assuming it can fly in a straight line without having to lift up and then travel, the way I would probably do it would require a track line and a pulling line. I'd find a way to rig a line from your choir loft to the back, as high as possible while still keeping whatever change in elevation is needed. I'd put a carrier onto this track line, probably a ~1' piece of clear tubing. Three pieces of fishing line could drop down to the crown for stability, and one more line would run from the carrier to a pulley at the rear rigging point, for operation.
 

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