I did some fly training during some down time at the old rep. I was taught by Dill who has been flying scenery for years. At the old rep they have a hemp house system for their flys meaning that non of the flys are counterweighted like modern systems. Since they are not counterweighted it means the flyer has to pull the whole weight of the bar and anything hanging off it weather that be multiple lights or big pieces of scenery. This often requires multiple flyers on one rope depending on the weight. 

When learning about flying we practiced on a empty bar which is the base of which you would attach scenery. We were taught how to safely un-tie it, lower it down, pull it back up, and tie it again. though it was only a bar it was still very heavy and still required some strength to it. Overall it went well.