Some excellent articles on Fly System Safety, courtesy of JR Clancy: J.R. Clancy Operation & Safety - Articles.
Proper Fly Rail Commands
- Thread starterwillbb123
- Start date
elite1trek
Active Member
WestlakeTech
Active Member
To quote Montell Jordan, "This is how we do it."
Moving the afforementioned line set #12 (bearing in mind that we have about 40 line sets): "Heads up! Line set 12, coming in, downstage!" and wait for a "Thank you" response before moving anything.
Loading weight... bit more complex. We have at least 2 people upstairs loading and one person in charge of the stage/floor. This person is the only one allowed to talk while weight is being loaded and it's his/her job to keep people a safe distance away. To explain, I'll call the person speaking on the loading rail "Loader" and the person on the floor... "Floor."
Floor: Loader! Can you add 50 pounds to line set 12 please!? (gently shakes rope from fly rail to ensure he and Loader are on the same page)
Loader: Add 50 pounds to line set 12? (also gently shakes rope)
Floor: Yes!
Loader: Clear the floor and clear the rail!
Floor: Floor and rail are clear!
(Loader adds the weight. When finished...)
Loader: Floor safe, rail safe! Check for balance!
My sophmore year, our annual musical was Wizard of Oz. It was great, but we were one spare line set short of what we needed for the backdrops we had. So during every single intermission, we got as many crew members as we could to help take down one of the backdrops on a line set which held two during the first half of the show. We would put it back on before the next show the following day.
Gretsch
Member
Our general syntax for loading weight goes as follows:
Deck: Can we get 5 bricks on lineset 12?
Loader: 5 bricks lineset 12?
Deck and Fly: Thank you (to tell loader its clear)
Loader: Loading 5 bricks on line 12.
after weight is loaded
Loader: Weight loaded, line 12 up 5 bricks.
Deck and Fly: Thank you.
same goes for transferring weight and unloading weight.
As for our rail calls we stick with "line 12 coming in/going out" with a thank you from either the ME, TD, ATD or Head Carp.
Deck: Can we get 5 bricks on lineset 12?
Loader: 5 bricks lineset 12?
Deck and Fly: Thank you (to tell loader its clear)
Loader: Loading 5 bricks on line 12.
after weight is loaded
Loader: Weight loaded, line 12 up 5 bricks.
Deck and Fly: Thank you.
same goes for transferring weight and unloading weight.
As for our rail calls we stick with "line 12 coming in/going out" with a thank you from either the ME, TD, ATD or Head Carp.
One command that we have found extremely useful at our school is that when the loader is ready, before they remove any safety chains, or pick up any bricks, they call out
Flyman: "LOADING ON THE BRIDGE! Clear Stage!"
Which basically to everybody in the theater means all non-essential personell clear stage, the flyman clears back to the scene shop gate typically after needed weights are confirmed.. Preceding conversation would go something like...
Flyman: "Stage Clear! Load 5 bricks on Lineset 13 please"
Loader: (Loader Shakes Line) "Confirm"
Flyman: "Correct, ready to load"
Loader: "Loading"
After loading is complete the conversation would go...
Flyman: (After safety chain is closed, and bricks secured) "Loading Complete, Bridge is Clear"
Loader: "Testing linset 13, stage is clear"
Flyman: "Go Ahead"
Loader: "Linset 13 is good, bridge safe, stage safe."
*Complete*
That's about how it goes for us...
Flyman: "LOADING ON THE BRIDGE! Clear Stage!"
Which basically to everybody in the theater means all non-essential personell clear stage, the flyman clears back to the scene shop gate typically after needed weights are confirmed.. Preceding conversation would go something like...
Flyman: "Stage Clear! Load 5 bricks on Lineset 13 please"
Loader: (Loader Shakes Line) "Confirm"
Flyman: "Correct, ready to load"
Loader: "Loading"
After loading is complete the conversation would go...
Flyman: (After safety chain is closed, and bricks secured) "Loading Complete, Bridge is Clear"
Loader: "Testing linset 13, stage is clear"
Flyman: "Go Ahead"
Loader: "Linset 13 is good, bridge safe, stage safe."
*Complete*
That's about how it goes for us...
carproelsofly
Active Member
Around here it goes like this:
Scenario 1, in which the flyman knows the exact weight of the piece
Flyman: give me 12 bricks on lineset 17
Loader: 12 bricks on lineset 17
... (flyman monitors the rail under the loader)
Loader: 12 bricks on lineset 17, closed and clear
Flyman: thank you 12 on lineset 17
Scenario 2, in which the flyman does NOT know the exact weight of the piece
Flyman: add 10 full bricks and 2 half-bricks to lineset 17 and leave it open
Loader: 10 fulls and 2 halfs to lineset 17
... (flyman monitors the rail)
Loader: 10 fulls and 2 halfs on 17, open and clear
Flyman checks weight by letting the lineset move an inch or two*
Flyman: remove one half-brick from lineset 17 and leave it open*
Loader: removing one half-brick from lineset 17*
...*
Loader: 10 fulls and 1 half on 17, open and clear*
Flyman checks weight
Flyman: remove one half-brick from lineset 17 and close it up
Loader: removing one half-brick from lineset 17
...
Loader: lineset 17 at 10 bricks, closed and clear
Flyman: thank you 10 on lineset 17
*repeated as many times as is necessary to bring the set into balance
Scenario 1, in which the flyman knows the exact weight of the piece
Flyman: give me 12 bricks on lineset 17
Loader: 12 bricks on lineset 17
... (flyman monitors the rail under the loader)
Loader: 12 bricks on lineset 17, closed and clear
Flyman: thank you 12 on lineset 17
Scenario 2, in which the flyman does NOT know the exact weight of the piece
Flyman: add 10 full bricks and 2 half-bricks to lineset 17 and leave it open
Loader: 10 fulls and 2 halfs to lineset 17
... (flyman monitors the rail)
Loader: 10 fulls and 2 halfs on 17, open and clear
Flyman checks weight by letting the lineset move an inch or two*
Flyman: remove one half-brick from lineset 17 and leave it open*
Loader: removing one half-brick from lineset 17*
...*
Loader: 10 fulls and 1 half on 17, open and clear*
Flyman checks weight
Flyman: remove one half-brick from lineset 17 and close it up
Loader: removing one half-brick from lineset 17
...
Loader: lineset 17 at 10 bricks, closed and clear
Flyman: thank you 10 on lineset 17
*repeated as many times as is necessary to bring the set into balance
afreeradical
Member
Not much to add here... Good communication is the key and everyone understanding how you've decided to communicate
1 thing I could add though...
In our theatre we can extend our pipes with pipe extentions... Therefore pipe weight can change'...
SO... When we call back the final weight from the loading rail before flyman test lineset...
We call back....
"X weights above pipe weight on Lineset X Locked and Loaded" or "X weight above pipe with extentions on Lineset X Loaded and Lock"
So the flyman always knows exactly how many bricks are on his arbor
Sorry posted this twice, just learning to use tapatalk and didn't realize I only had 20 mins to edit and had to run a couple cue's before I formulated everything I wanted to say and just hit post so I wouldn't loose what I typed
1 thing I could add though...
In our theatre we can extend our pipes with pipe extentions... Therefore pipe weight can change'...
SO... When we call back the final weight from the loading rail before flyman test lineset...
We call back....
"X weights above pipe weight on Lineset X Locked and Loaded" or "X weight above pipe with extentions on Lineset X Loaded and Lock"
So the flyman always knows exactly how many bricks are on his arbor
Sorry posted this twice, just learning to use tapatalk and didn't realize I only had 20 mins to edit and had to run a couple cue's before I formulated everything I wanted to say and just hit post so I wouldn't loose what I typed
theatricalmatt
Well-Known Member
How long are your pipe extensions that they change the pipe weight that much? (Or, how light are your bricks....)
Calling down from the loading gallery has two drawbacks: You have to speak very loudly, and you have to speak very clearly. So I use short words. And I pause. Between phrases. So it's clear.
It also means I tend toward the side that says, I'm only going to speak when things are ready. I only call down that a lineset has been re-weighted when it's actually ready to fly: when we've shifted all the weight, locked the arbor, and cleared the lineset. It doesn't make any sense to call down that lineset fourteen is now twenty bricks above pipe weight, but don't fly it yet because I still have a pony clip holding up a spreader plate -- finish the job, and then call down. This saves an awful lot of noise on the stage floor.
There may, of course, be times when the head carp asks where we are in the loading process, for one reason or another (...coffee break?), but that's a whole different story.
Now of course, when I'm the head carp on the stage floor, I usually still call up to ask if the rail is clear and the lineset can fly. Sometimes the loaders can see obstructions that I can't from the stage deck.
Calling down from the loading gallery has two drawbacks: You have to speak very loudly, and you have to speak very clearly. So I use short words. And I pause. Between phrases. So it's clear.
It also means I tend toward the side that says, I'm only going to speak when things are ready. I only call down that a lineset has been re-weighted when it's actually ready to fly: when we've shifted all the weight, locked the arbor, and cleared the lineset. It doesn't make any sense to call down that lineset fourteen is now twenty bricks above pipe weight, but don't fly it yet because I still have a pony clip holding up a spreader plate -- finish the job, and then call down. This saves an awful lot of noise on the stage floor.
There may, of course, be times when the head carp asks where we are in the loading process, for one reason or another (...coffee break?), but that's a whole different story.
Now of course, when I'm the head carp on the stage floor, I usually still call up to ask if the rail is clear and the lineset can fly. Sometimes the loaders can see obstructions that I can't from the stage deck.
techieman33
Well-Known Member
It depends on what your doing. If loading for heavy softgoods, or something else that doesn't have all of it's weight on the pipe at time of loading I will call out weight at a couple of points. That way the people on the ground holding the pipe have a better idea of what is going on. The same thing at load out. When unloading something like an electric it's common to call out when you have enough removed for people to pull the cable off, then again at half and quarter of the weight left so they can start pulling fixtures off.
afreeradical
Member
Our pipe extensions are 4' and we can add them to both ends of the pipe...
I believe our steel bricks are 22 lbs and the lead are 26 lbs. ( don't need to get into lead weight discussion we took care of it with rubber dip years ago )
So the ext. can change the weight from a 1/2 brick to a brick .. (but don't hold me too that... I've been Supervisor LX for years, so been awhile since I had to slug weight )
But don't think it so much about the weight as about making sure there is no confusion that the Yellow weights are NOT coming off unless specifically asked for...
It's always the young new guys sent up to load weight... Us old guys can't be bothered or can't make the climb anymore
I believe our steel bricks are 22 lbs and the lead are 26 lbs. ( don't need to get into lead weight discussion we took care of it with rubber dip years ago )
So the ext. can change the weight from a 1/2 brick to a brick .. (but don't hold me too that... I've been Supervisor LX for years, so been awhile since I had to slug weight )
But don't think it so much about the weight as about making sure there is no confusion that the Yellow weights are NOT coming off unless specifically asked for...
It's always the young new guys sent up to load weight... Us old guys can't be bothered or can't make the climb anymore
