The grid ceiling was built and flown in just one working day, by a Summit team of 10 - an impressive achievement within a very short timescale. One of the great advantages of using the Thomas SuperTruss in situations like this is its strength, and the fact that large spans of truss can be supported by fewer hoists than conventional trussing systems, thus minimizing the overall points needed to safely hang the grid.
Once floating off the deck, the truss was completed clad in black fabric, and the exhibition lighting suspended beneath it before being flown out to trim. Also on the Vauxhall stand was a Disney feature with two flown Vauxhalls - one upside down and one right side up - appearing to fly through a roll of film. This was project-managed by Jack Morton Worldwide and the production manager was Adam Wildi.
The feature highlighted the fact that Opel/Vauxhall is the official sponsor of the ‘Stunt Show Spectacular’ - a major attraction at the new Walt Disney Studios' Park in Disneyland Paris, which opened earlier this year. Jack Morton called Summit in to fly the two vehicles, which were suspended on special brackets, each flown out with four motors.
In Hall 2, a spectacular hourly stunt show in a purpose-built arena showed off the attributes of the new Mini Cooper S. The show was attended by 750 members of the public per session, plus members of the Mini Owners Club, and the queues lasted all day. Inside the arena, Summit Steel installed approximately 250m of truss in various shapes across different areas of the show and exhibition areas, onto which the production lighting (supplied by Essential) and the sound system (supplied by Delta) was suspended. This played a vital role in the highly dramatic performance.
(Lee Baldock)
