So, having installed all of the posts around the stairway, it was time to install the collar ties, knee braces, and base posts that complete the two bastard valley bents. We discussed putting the entire bent together and flying the whole thing in at once, but, since we don’t have a crane in the yard (just a priceless antique Grad-All), we needed to install everything piece by piece.
As you can see in the video, this necessitated rigging up a system to float the knee brace and collar tie for the base post installation. This worked beautifully and as expected, which is nice. We may, during the actual raising, when we have a crane, still put the whole bent together but it is nice to know that we can efficiently piece everything together as well.
