Trap flying

This page documents a hazardous activity.
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Trap flying in the ADC Theatre is the process of lifting set from the scene pit to the stage, or lowering it back again. Trap flying is the only way to move the largest pieces of set (such as 16'×8' flats) from the workshop to the stage. However, it is also a viable means of moving smaller items, if there are few people available for manual lifting and the traps are already in use. (Trap flying time must be organised in advance with ADC management, and then supervised at all times by them; booking this forms part of the show folder.)

Under management supervision, the “traps” (wooden rectangular sections of the stage floor) are removed from the stage and metal handrail fitted around them. (There is a correct order for this to be done in so as to minimize the risk of falling down a two-storey hole in the stage!) Once this is done, the manager lowers an electric winch from the grid into the pit, and attached to the set, which should already have the necessary rigging attachments fitted.

Careful planning of the order in which set is moved is helpful to reduce the hazards associated with moving large pieces of set.