# Drowsy Chaperone Airplane



## dmxinblacks (Sep 15, 2010)

Hi, my highschool is doing a production of the Drowsy Chaperon, during the semi-final scene we need to have an airplane, we would 'like' it to be pretty big, around 18ft (5.4m) wide, and to fly in, we have the budget to have an electric wench and to build a sturdy enough plane that can be suspended. we have a gridiron that can support more than enough weight, we dont have an actual fly system though, we have enough space behind the teasers and electrics to fit something about 4ft (1.2m) deep and 6ft (1.8m) tall. Any suggestions on rigging or any suggestions at all would be appreciated.

thanks
-dmx in blacks


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## headcrab (Sep 15, 2010)

So do you want to have actors in this airplane, which will be suspended from the grid? It seems that you (like myself) have insufficient experience with rigging, so the safest thing to do is to contact a professional rigger. Yes, I know they're actors, but if anything happens, YOU (or whoever built the contraption) would be blamed for it.

Please don't take offense, I'm just telling it like it is.

In any case, rigging questions tend to violate the Control Booth TOS.


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## Footer (Sep 15, 2010)

I did this show last year at Music Theatre of Wichita. I was the welder for the show and built the structure of the plane. We did fly the aviatrix on it. The plane was flown on 8 points. We did not use the theatre's fly system in any way. What we did do I will not get into around here. What we did have though was a professional welder (me), a handful of MFAs, a professional scene shop, 15k in automation, and a professional crew to run the show and the automation. It was a very large project and took every dept. working together to pull it off. I spent 2 days just cleaning up welds on the plane. 

If you want the aviatrix to fly in on the plane, I would suggest that you call up MTW and rent the plane I built and have a company come out and fly it for you. If you just want the plane to come in and have the aviatrix walk into it, then building the plane could be accomplished a bit easier and 2 dimensionally. 




http://vansandtdesigns.com/portfolio/the-drowsy-chaperone/


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## dmxinblacks (Sep 15, 2010)

thanks for the sugestions, no one is going to flying in on it, we knew that wouldnt be safe at all, (no mater how much the director wants it) not with our schools level of experience. in an ideal situation the aviatrix would be able to walk into it after its on the ground, but thats probably a streach. it would be nice if it could have a little bit of dimensionality, we just doint want to do the bunch of cardboard cutouts held up by the actors that we have seen in other HS productions, at the very least we'll have a lauan and 1 by 3 flat that flys in. thanks for the help!

none taken haedcrab, we havent done this kinda stuff much before.

-thanks


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## Footer (Sep 15, 2010)

Because you are going to be flying something in a space that does not have a fly system, please get a qualified rigger out there to do the overhead work for you. I am pretty suspect whenever someone says they have access to an electric winch. 9 times out of 10 that means they have a bumper winch that is not made for overhead lifting. If you need help finding someone to do the rigging for you, please don't hesitate to ask.


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## MarshallPope (Sep 15, 2010)

If you "must" use some sort of makeshift rigging, which I am definitely not suggesting, but you may want to look into building the plane out of foam insulation board. (Home depot - ~$15 / 4'x8' sheet) This is pretty darn sturdy if you assemble it with screws, and is less likely to kill someone walking underneath.


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## Teber (Sep 15, 2010)

I was designing a version of this, and one of our ideas that became the best idea, was instead of flying it (there was no pre-existing fly space) thing around the apartment were turned around and the set became the airplane. It was pretty darn cool!


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## dmxinblacks (Sep 16, 2010)

Yes I know I miss-spelled winch, I’m sorry if you thought that was what our plan was, it was just supposed to be a statement of our budget, we don’t have much of a plan yet. I know a few guys who do rigging at a professional theater were I intern, ill talk to them. I don’t think we have 15k to spend on rigging or turn the set around, as most of it is already built in the shop.

Thanks for all of your suggestions; I just want to say we are not going to do anything that isn't safe. We have a while until open, so this won’t get done in a rush. If we cant make it safe we'll do something else, btw, thanks marsall for the insulation board idea, we’ve used it before for some smaller hand props and scenery pieces with success

Our school hasn’t done much in the way of rigging other than the banner drop here and the flying hat in Seussical there.

-thanks much


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## NessaChan (Sep 19, 2010)

Perhaps you could have the back of the apartment set fly out and have the plane pre-set behind it, either on the ground or built to look like it is a bit suspended.. like on the front of a platform or somesuch, perhaps with stairs (black) going up to the plane's seat... and just roll it forward a bit to give the illusion of upward movement/a moving vehicle... paint the plane to look like it has depth when really there is none, could look good, and no danger of it falling on anyone.


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## kicknargel (Sep 20, 2010)

Just one more time, you really can't do any of this without a professional qualified rigger. It's not enough to think you've done it safely, you need someone who has the specific knowledge to determine what's safe.


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## dmxinblacks (Sep 23, 2010)

Well i meant we would make it safe by using a qualified rigger. After a discussion with my director and TD, we are going to have to plane come in on a wagon, because of the constrained set, the wings will have to fold down after it comes on stage.


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