a thin wire rope (e.g. 1/4" diameter). One end of each length is attached together. The free thick end of the compensating line is attached to the underside of the arbor and the free thin end is attached to the top. As fly pipe lowers and the arbor rises, more of the thick heavy wire rope hangs beneath the arbor and compensates for the additional weight of the fly lines. This mechanism works well with T-track counterweight systems. Runaways A runaway is a moving lineset that cannot be safely controlled by its operator. Runaways can occur when the weight on the arbor is not equal to the weight of the batten and its load. Linesets are often intentionally unbalanced to facilitate quick flying in one direction and, in such cases, runaways are more likely to occur. In the rare event that an unbalanced lineset gains so much momentum that the operator cannot stop it, a specified safety procedure is usually followed. Venues typically establish a standard call for this event, which might sound something like "Runaway 47, upstage, heads." (It is unlikely that a flyperson will have enough time to utter all of that. More likely they will just scream "Heads! Heads!...". Acceleration due to gravity is 9.8 metres per second per second; if there's a front-heavy runaway batten heading for the deck from 20m overhead there will only be a couple of seconds to give a warning to those below. For this reason, it is standard operating procedure in most venues to for crew to be clear from directly underneath of battens when they are being loaded/unloaded and flown unbalanced. "Heads" is a standard call but runaway cradles are, thankfully, not a standard event; they can kill.) Operators are trained not to attempt to stop a runaway lineset but rather to warn others and safely escape. The reason for this is that it is unlikely that they will be able to stop it, and very likely that they will burn their hands or be lifted by the lineset, potentially injuring themselves on structure above and/or from a subsequent fall. Furthermore, this might position the operator in the path of the batten, arbor, or sandbag as they accelerate downward. Spreader plates are used in counterweight arbors to keep the arbor's vertical rods from bending and releasing the counterweights in the event of a runaway, while the locking plate prevents the