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CASA closes rifle ranges

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Old 12th Feb 2012, 06:42
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CASA closes rifle ranges

Air safety concerns close rifle ranges - Local News - News - General - The Examiner Newspaper

FIVE Northern Tasmanian rifle ranges were forced to close last week following air safety concerns from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.The Tasmanian Gun Club's Evandale range, a Blessington range and three ranges owned by the Esk Field and Game, Tamar Pistol Club and Northern Midlands Sporting Clays, were all temporarily closed on Wednesday.
The safety authority said that shot shells could reach up to 1000 metres, a claim rubbished by Tasmania Gun Club secretary Alan Styles.

Does anyone like CASA?
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Old 12th Feb 2012, 06:57
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I do, if they've got a shottie with a 1000 metre range.
I'm happy to be their new best friend (until I can get my little mitts on it, anyway)...
Never heard of one before, my guess is that it must be a pretty unique firearm...maybe they could flog it off and fund some more 'experts'.
300 yards is the figure that gets bandied around regarding safe distances for shot gun ranges.
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Old 12th Feb 2012, 07:39
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I find it interesting how many pistol clubs are located near airports. I guess it's just a matter of realestate. Off the top of my head:

- Geelong (Grovedale)
- Darwin
- Point Cook
- Melbourne Airport!

I'm sure there are many more.

Did anyone else ever shoot pistols at Melbourne airport pistol club? I recall firing off a few mags with 747's and many other large aircraft flying directly overhead. It was a little concerning at first. They were seriously so close it was like you could take out a tyre if you wanted.

Perhaps that's why the club closed down!

I remember getting the directions. Drive past Tulla and enter at Gate 5 ! The road took me past an old wrecked aircraft with doors that opened at the front - looked a little like a Dove and had trailers and rubbish in it.
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Old 12th Feb 2012, 07:40
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They are also going to stop those vans selling icecreams and hotdogs at the carpark on the north side of Melbourne Airport. Check out the Aussie flags on the those vans via google earth. Surely they are a danger to landing aircraft?
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Old 12th Feb 2012, 08:03
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I don't understand why gobbledock hasn't posted his usual diatribe here yet. Is he asleep? CASA has been mentioned after all.
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Old 12th Feb 2012, 08:12
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I think BDG might have a rifle range close by, or that might be an ammo dump.

I've wondered about those two ice cream vans located Nth of Tulla ya fly right over them on App to Rwy 16 Lit up like xmas trees they are. Who'd wanna buy an ice cream from them anyway the amount of exhaust fumes being dumped in that area they prolly taste like Jet A1
Tulla also has a toy plane field not too far from the Airport, SW direction. I was told the boys in the Twr watch them from time to time with there bino's.No way would they stay blw 100 mtrs all the time.


Wmk2
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Old 12th Feb 2012, 08:18
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I wouldn't give CASA any ideas. They're already disliked in GA, now target shooters, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if model-aircraft were next (just wave the "threat to aviation safety" card and they're all magically banned). Maybe kite-fliers after that?
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Old 12th Feb 2012, 08:27
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...and then people who live in tall buildings
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Old 12th Feb 2012, 08:30
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YGTH has a large bore rifle club (7.62) within striking distance of every SAAB landing on 24. Strange the "spooks" didn't pick up on that. Probably better to shut the airport than move the rifle range.
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Old 12th Feb 2012, 08:38
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.....who'd wanna shoot at a Saab anyway? That's not very sporting there so slow it would be like shooting rats in a barrel!
The toy plane club at Tulla I believe has a dispo to operate there as they are within the 4 k's I think it is of a licensed drome.
If anyone ever flies into Cohuna (NthVic) then duck as you App the nth rwy as there is a toy plane club right beside the airport boundary!!!


Wmk2
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Old 12th Feb 2012, 08:54
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The Evandale range would be 3NM or a bit more from 32L, so say overhead at 1000 feet.

Can't see any shotgun getting them from there. Rifle rounds a different story though.
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Old 12th Feb 2012, 08:55
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"it wouldn't surprise me in the least if model-aircraft were next"

They already do. Talking to a work colleague yesterday that flies model planes, he reckons CASA have told his club they need to check the experience of anyone doing displays for the public.

Speaking of rifle ranges and model aero clubs. Most of the rifle ranges in Brisbane are close to the approach to YBBN at Belmont and there's a big model field at Tingalpa which, I believe, is one of the STAR waypoints into the same airport.
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Old 12th Feb 2012, 09:00
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We have one nearby where the models (mind you, some of them rival a Pitts in appearance) regularly fly at over 1,000 ft. One day, I had one pull up in a stall turn literally beside me. Scared me because I thought it was real.
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Old 12th Feb 2012, 09:12
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Most of the rifle ranges in Brisbane are close to the approach to YBBN at Belmont
And in an awesome planning effort, the Belmont Shooting Complex also houses the Queensland Racing Pigeon Federation. Hopefully the pigeons have been reading the rules.
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Old 12th Feb 2012, 09:20
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Talking to a work colleague yesterday that flies model planes, he reckons CASA have told his club they need to check the experience of anyone doing displays for the public.
I guess with the increase now in UAVs CASA are rubbing their hands in glee at the even wider group of the populaton they can p1ss off to no end.
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Old 12th Feb 2012, 20:03
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CASA Bullshot

Seeing as Goobledock is busy I will step into the fray. CASA have no authority to regulate the use of firearms apart apart from when it is done from an aircraft. They could express their concern over the location of a range, little else.
Pistol and shotgun ranges, surely they jest. The only way a pistol or shot gun round will travel 1000m is if you dropped it from that height.

Target rifles, different story. I have a .308 target rifle and have fired it regularly at a range of 900m. That said our range is 100km north of Brisbane and has a mountain behind the stop-butt.

Personally, if CASA paid any heed to the level of criticism they receive on this forum they would not go anywhere near a loaded weapon.
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Old 12th Feb 2012, 22:08
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Our local SmallBore, Pistol, and Big Bore range on the away-from-Airport side of town was closed on the 31st of December. We thought we had at least another 12 months use, and were negotiating to keep it open permanently still (it has been there for over a 100 years), but seems the letter had a 'typographical' error of date, 2012 should have read 2011, according to the managing authority, Dept of Administratiuon and Infrastructure, or something.... So the notice went on the gate 'Do not use' while we were in recess over the New Year, and the first that most Clubmembers found out about it was when they rolled up to have a shoot..
The Army Department used to control it, and I remember doing some shoots there with machine guns and SLRs during National service. We have some great facilities there for pistol shooting and Silhouette competitions but can't touch them till the present situation is resolved.

Seems the Army didn't want to control the real estate anymore (probably Liability issues) and handed it to a Civil Servant run Department - and they are keen to realise the monetary value of the asset to make their 'Administration' look good to their political masters....
Hypocritial - in my view - to deny citizens including youth, the possible future recruits for the Armed services, the opportunity to learn the shooting skills they may need later to fulfill a Government overseas agenda..

So as a Club, we went to Childers yesterday, to the Isis range, and shot in the competition there. There were shooters from Mundubbera, Bingera/Kolan, Bundaberg, Isis, Maryborough, Hervy Bay and Gympie in attendance.... We had to have 4 details of 20 shooters in each detail, to get through the 2 by 40 shot match. Some of the best shooting seen was done by the youngsters with their new rifles - they certainly put me to shame with my Winchester 69a that I was given 50 years ago....

That range would be in under a wide Childers circuit too.

This country is getting really stuffed up....
by the 'Civil' Servants and politicians......
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Old 12th Feb 2012, 22:26
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There is a nice (military) range in Hawaii where you can blat away all day with 5.56 and 7.62 automatic weapons as USMC helicopters fill the skies all around you from the nearby air station; many at low level. AFAIK none have been hit.
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Old 12th Feb 2012, 23:18
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Kingaroy gun club is on short final to rwy 05.
100-150' there on occasion!
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Old 12th Feb 2012, 23:27
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Anyone remember the old skeet shooting range at Georges Hall where the arcs of fire were directly over BK with the boundary only a couple of hundred metres at most.

Another one that comes to mind is the Swanbourne range which has I think about a 1000m classificaton range which is about 45 deg to the coast line , a 25m open air range and a sniper range. Ironically when they put the red flags up, people are not allowed to walk along the beach even though they are protected by a dirty big line of sand dunes but aircraft can fly low level down the coast.
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