Spare Wheel Blog
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SUA pilot and drone

Agricultural and Drainage Works Photographic & Aerial Survey in the Fenlands

Spare Wheel Productions are holders of CAA permissions to fly small unmanned surveillance aircraft (commonly known as surveillance drones) for commercial operations under CAA Air Navigation Order (ANO) 2016.

The permissions enable us to provide professional aerial photographic services in the Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire regions; they also enable us to add a broader perspective to our own in-house video productions. Clients are reminded to ask potential service providers whether they also have Third Party Liability insurance as WITHOUT CAA permissions a drone pilot CANNOT obtain insurance, and without insurance a potential drone pilot CANNOT obtain permissions - they are interlinked. No permissions, no insurance; no insurance, no permissions.

Spare Wheel Production's Claire Buckley holds a General Aviation Private Pilots Licence (PPL).

© Spare Wheel Productions

Perkoz glider landing

The Peterborough & Spalding Gliding Club (PSGC) has launched a new promotional film prior to a number of local flying events scheduled throughout the summer of 2016. The commissioned film, Gliding: Mile High Flying, has been produced by Claire Buckley at Peterborough-based video production company Spare Wheel Productions.

"We didn't want to see the flying action from the ground looking up," says Claire. "What we wanted was to get our audience in amongst the action, within the cockpit, to give the viewer a personnalised sense of flying as it happens - up front."

 Tim Beasley, a club member and instructor who is featured in the film, says the new promotional film is a very different viewpoint and out-of-the ordinary from previous gliding videos. That this is a cinematic production with film-score music. "Gliding is for people of all ages looking for something very different, especially for those looking to enjoy the flying experience for the first time."

 The Peterborough & Spalding Gliding Club was established in 1970 and has now over 60 members. The club is situated at Crowland Airfield about 5 miles south of Spalding, within the South Lincolnshire and North Cambridgeshire regions.

 Gliding in the UK is regulated by the British Gliding Association (BGA) giving opportunity for inter-club events, national and international competitions for those looking to go much further with their flying qualifications.

 Peterborough & Spalding Gliding Club welcomes non-members of all ages and offers Trial Flights, Gift-Style Flight Vouchers, and opportunity for Air-Experience Flights with qualified instructors in one of the club's three two-seater gliders. Training flights leading to solo flying are also available from the club's BGA qualified instructors.

 The club can be contacted on 01733 210 463 (weekends and Bank Holidays), or Monday to Friday on 0844 555 5011 (calls cost 7p per minute plus your phone company access charge). Or by Email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 Gliding: Mile High Flying was shot using the Sony FS7 camera system at High Frame Rate (120FPS) XAVC L50 in Slog3 Cine EI colour space, and with a number of GoPro type POV cameras. Editing was on Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2015 with colour grading in Resolve 12. Upload to our Vimeo Channel is via the mp4 H264 codec.

© Spare Wheel Productions

Recent reports in the UK National Press of the decline of the Gatekeeper Butterfly (Pyronia Tithonus) have been exaggerated; that would be the opinion if you walked the banks of the North Level Main Drain in Cambridgeshire.

Here in Summer and early Autumn you will have seen the recently refurbished banksides abundant with the little brown and orange butterfly skipping over thistle flower and down.

During filming at Foul Anchor near Tydd St Giles for the North Level District Internal Drainage Board in late July, it was noticed a great number of the butterflies actively feeding and seeking their mate, decorating new plant growth along the banks. The butterfly, sometimes called the Hedge Brown, is a common visitor to the area.

Opportunity was given to the Gatekeeper to make a guest appearance in the short documentary film, Foul Anchor Sluice Refurbishment produced by Claire Buckley of Spare Wheel Productions based in Peterborough. The documentary, voiced by Adam Hart-Davis, was filmed over a four-week period at Foul Anchor and centred upon the once-in-a-generation refurbishment of the historic sluice gates in a £700,000 flood protection project.

Watch Foul Anchor Sluice Refurbishment and see The Gatekeeper featured at 16:00 on the film's timeline.

Read the Gatekeeper story from the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-35093468

Peterborough based independent video producers Spare Wheel Productions join the ipDTL Network to complete a number of client projects.

With current technology it's now possible to undertake voice over without the voice-over talent being present at the audio post production stage of a video production or to physically attend a voice-over studio session. Peer-to-Peer Voice Over Internet has been around for some time, but ipDTL has pulled it all together into one simple and affordable server location.

"We now have the ability to complete our production voice-over process without the voice talent ever having to leave their home, providing us with a significant saving on post-production costs," comments Claire Buckley, Spare Wheel Productions producer. "In addition, it's now possible to select from a range of voice talent from both national or international sources, also enabling voice dubbing in multiple languages if required by our clients."

The first to benefit will be a joint venture video production in partnership with the North Level District Internal Drainage Board and The Environment Agency, due for completion in November 2015.

Spare Wheel Productions Ltd is a member of PACT, the Independent Producers Alliance.
Based in Crowland, Peterborough, Spare Wheel Productions undertakes independent broadcast and video production for industry and business.

You can find the Spare Wheel Productions Studio listing on the ipDTL Network with the ID, SpareWheel.

North Level District IDB Environment Videos 2015

North Level District Internal Drainage Board, based in Thorney Peterborough, has selected Spare Wheel Productions to produce a series of short video features centred around the environmental work and maintenance projects within the North Level District. The videos will be filmed over a 9-month period commencing Spring 2015 using the Sony FS7K camera system.

Spare Wheel Productions Purchase Sony FS7K Cameras

As part of a new equipment update, Spare Wheel Productions announce the purchase of the latest Sony FS7K super 35 format sensor cameras. The Sony FS7s offer a versatile mix of quality and flexibility required in our documentary-style productions, and also provide opportunity to shoot and experience 4K video formats, an increasing requirement in the coming years.

The cameras operate full HD and 4K, as well as 4K UHD using the new Sony XAVC codec - the same as Sony's F5 and F55 models. The FS7 cameras come with Sony's new interchangeable SELP28135G 28mm-135mm full frame powered zoom lens.

Sony cameras have been supplied by CVP, London.

Spare Wheel Productions is pleased to announce an agreement with the television presenter, scientist and historian, Adam Hart-Davis for the development and collaboration of an Arts & Science documentary for 2015-2016.

Dr Hart-Davis has a well-established career in UK television spanning a 30-year period. Originally a researcher and then science programme producer for Yorkshire Television, he became best known for his presentation of the popular history series Local Heroes. This was followed by a number of other factual programmes, the best known possibly are What The Romans Did For Us, and What The Victorians Did For Us. He was later to become a presenter of the BBC's flag-ship science programme, Tomorrow's World.

The development agreement is for an hour-long documentary embracing Arts and Science with the dramatisation of a number of historical elements.

The collaboration sees Dr Hart-Davis and Spare Wheel Productions producer Claire Buckley team up again after almost 30 years.