VFR Meteorological conditions - Yes IFR MC / strong cross - There might be a go around How cute is the flight attendant?
I agree with TexasFlyer on not being able to find a Ben or Benjamin Cannon anywhere in the FAA airman database. For example, I was able to find myself easily just using last name and state. There aren't that many pilots, so it is a relatively easy thing to confirm or not. Possible that Artherd is a pilot but only if Ben Cannon isn't his real name. Hmm ... We'll have to wait and see. As far as the thread topic, i know I could land a 747. Just maybe not exactly on the runway. With a stabilized approach with correct airspeed and relatively close rate of vertical descent, I could give it a pretty good shot. .
A xwind landing in an airliner could be a little rough. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5X_7Xt2ga-s&feature=related
A little rough? Here's the top ten craziest cross wind landings. The 7th or 8th is a 747 landing that will pucker your butt to the chair you are sitting in just watching it!
Well, for starters, I'm a legitimate Air Force veteran, a legitimate pilot and a legitimate aircraft owner, albeit unlike your member, Ben Cannon, I do not claim to own a jet (in fact, I do not own any aircraft that burns kerosene), nor do I claim to be "close" to buying a "F-car" (although I quite often lust after the two famous TV Ferrari cars, one on Magnum PI and the the Daytona on Miami Vice). There are a number of us in the (legitimate) aviation community that have recently been informed as to Ben Cannon's con-man and posing ways as they pertain to being a "jet owner/leasee" and pilot. Neither are true. In fact, far, far from it. In fact, Cannon is the subject of an intense investigation by California law enforcement authorities, over a recent business venture of his that has left scores of people out tens of thousands of dollars. This is not supposition. This is fact. In general aviation, we're kind of particular about our image. With the increased "eye" being given us by the politicos and media activists due to chicken-little "security" concerns, the last thing we need is some con-man running all over the internet posing as a commercial pilot and/or commercial aircraft owner and spreading BS around that those outside the community believe because they (mistakenly) believe that Cannon is an actual pilot. You folks here who own Ferraris do so because you legitimately worked hard. You are proud of your accomplishments and acquisitions. I was browsing through some of the pictures of swimming pools some of your members have and/or have had designed and built. There is a lot of hard-earned pride in your accomplishments. And by the way, some of the work is stunning. Likewise in the aviation community. Many of us learned our wares in the service of our country, often times under conditions that would not fall under the guise of "flying the friendly skies." Others took out student loans or GI bills to pursue their dream. Still others became weekend student pilots while holding down full-time jobs and being full-time spouses and parents. Ben's posing in regards to his "pilot" life is about the same to us as if he took pictures of some of YOUR cars and photoshopped you, the owner(s) out and photoshopped himself in and then spread them around claiming those were HIS cars. If you want to learn more about your poser member, you can google "Gpal Ben Cannon" and you will get page after page after page of hits--few of which are even remotely favorable. Then you might take a look at some of his almost 7,000 posts and see if there is any credibility in anything he has ever claimed to be or to have done. You have a fantastic forum here with some incredibly successful members who achieved that success through hard work. Again, I've never owned a Ferrari and don't know if I ever will, but I absolutely appreciate everything a Ferrari stands for and represents. As such, I would think the Ferrari community is every bit as proud of their accomplishments as the aviation community is--and having a con-man in your midst who has defrauded countless people out of tens of thousands of dollars and who is the subject of an ongoing investigation would maybe cause you to take a bit more notice at this particular member. And by the way, several of Ben Cannon's victims through this Gpal mess are fellow pilots and aircraft owners. Word has been getting around with us, slowly, but it's getting around.
check... check... and double-check. Sounds legit to me, whatever that might be worth. And if it was me trying to land the 747, you would all most likely be better off just jumping out.
I did. WOWZERS! I was shocked at what I read. Good lord, this may be better than the 'ScoobySnacks' thread in B&I a few months back! One of the articles I read stated the following: "Previously, Mr. Cannon was the founder, President, & CEO of CBC Construction & Engineering, and Cannon Aerospace. As head of Cannon Aerospace, Mr. Cannon managed & produced, under government contracts, airborne night vision surveillance systems. He has been recognized by 3 governmental" ......................this went on and on! Are you sure we are talking about the same Ben Cannon?
Yes, unfortunately we are talking about the same Ben Cannon that goes by "artherd" here and on other forums in which lifestyles and possessions cost a bit more to acquire and maintain. A quick call to a retired Air Force colonel (O-6) I served with and who is now with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) confirmed that Cannon is full of hot air as to "Cannon Aerospace" and all the claims therein. In fact, DoD has never heard of Ben Cannon or Cannon Aerospace until the con that is Gpal began unraveling. If Mr. Cannon is using fabricated relationships with the U.S. Department of Defense in order to secure other business, arrangements or contracts, he will find himself in all likelihood in some very, very deep and hot water. Every "business" Cannon has his name on has suspended licenses for a multitude of reasons. His "corporate address" is a mailbox at a local UPS store. His "phone banks" are an internet contraption called a "skype" or something like that. Ben Cannon likes to play the high-roller. On another similar site, he has been outed for the fraud and poser he is. Unfortunately, he was not outed before some folks were out some money. On yet another site, he'd weasled and conned his way in, "donated" or pledged a little money, then started up again--but too many Gpal victims found him on that site and he got outed and bounced by the owners themselves. Understand that Ben Cannon likes to come to communities like this one, join, "get known" for a few years, then start looking for "investors." At present, American Express has two summary judgments against him in excess of $50,000. You'd think a Citation CJ2 owner and manager and pilot would write a personal check for that kind of chump change. Reality is, Cannon didn't even have enough spare change to pay for the registration on his decades-old junker C3500, and when stopped by police, went to jail for other unrelated charges. There are reported to be no less than six different FBI "A" offices (offices in major cities like Dallas, Houston, Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta and Charlotte) that are now beginning to sort through complaints and evidence. Complaints against Cannon and the now infamous "Gpal" have been filed with a myriad of State Attorney General's offices across the country. Long story short? You fine people have one of the slickest con-men since Bernie Madoff right here in your midst. And believe me, he is slick. He could sell space heaters in Hell and make you think you need them. He manipulates emotions by playing the misunderstood persecuted "victim" while laughing at the victims his scams create. You have too good of a community here to have this kind of a snake under your feet and not even know it. Still not convinced? Again, google "Gpal Ben Cannon" or any variation such as "Gpal fraud" or "Gpal complaints" or "Gpal Ben Cannon fraud" etc and you'll be either shocked or amazed at what you find. You'll be disgusted by what you read.
Artherd's user profile here listed his homepage as cdglobal (now defunct), which gave a general description of what the company did and claimed to have government contract work. That web page always seemed suspect to me, as it had little or no contact information, few specifics, and spelling and grammar errors - okay for a blog, but all major blunders for a real company web page. I suppose it is possible that artherd is a different Ben Cannon from the one described above, is a stand-up guy who had a real company called cdglobal that was doing good work but just never had a great web page, and this is all a case of mistaken identity... but that does not appear to be the way to bet.
CDGlobal was losing money, like every other Cannon "enterprise" and Ben Cannon changed its name to "GeoVario" and got a partner. The partner has done an exposé on his relationship with Cannon that is pretty damning. Cannon had hid a lot of debt through dubious accounting methods and outright omissions, that upon discovery, the new owner found himself scrambling to cover. GeoVario had contracts for server-provider service that had to be honored, and thus, the new owner had no choice but to scramble and resolve the debts. Ben Cannon is busy in the California gun world, which is how the GeoVario situation came to be, per Ben's volunteering to host an internet gun forum known as Calguns.net. In addition, Cannon had volunteered to host other gun-related internet forums. On at least one of these forums, Cannon held "raffles" in order to raise funds. There have been serious questions raised about the legitimacy of these raffles, how the prizes were acquired, and why the "winners" were always associates or "former" employees of Cannon's. There is an investigation now ongoing into his "fundraising" activities. However, being the charmer and manipulator that he is, he turned all questions doubting his integrity into "personal attacks" which would then violate TOS, and thus, get the person who had questions about the "winners" of such fund-raising raffles banned or suspended from the very forum they donated money to keep going. Slick. It is known that Ben Cannon explicitly stated that the fund-raising raffles for GeoVario (formerly CDGlobal, which was defunct by that time) were for "new servers." On average, between $15K and $20K was raised, but Cannon got caught buying the "new servers" on Ebay for literally pennies on the dollar, and nobody knows what happened to the rest of the money. This is a scenario that apparently repeated itself several times and in several locales. And this is just one "enterprise" that Ben Cannon, now 30 years old, same exact profile here as he uses on Calguns.net, some investment forums, a luxury lifestyle forum, and other forums. It is the same person. Ben lists himself as being a member of ASCE. He is not. A check by several legitimate engineers who are members confirmed that. Now, in addition to aviation/pilots and gun owners, Cannon has a group of engineers looking into him for posing as an engineer. Ben cannot prove even an associate's degree, let alone a BS/Engineering degree. He is vague on details, or worse, will give details that belong to someone else. But he always has an excuse or "plausible" reason why he cannot/will not disclose details. Without fail, he gets into a community, such as this one, digs in like a tick on a dog, very active, donates a little money or subscribes or both, meets a few people (who've never ever been to his house--he lived with his parents right up until last year, by the way), and when his scam/enterprise begins to fall apart, two things usually happen: 1. He rallies his "supporters" and they challenge or shout down the new member/poster(s) who show up to call him out on his con-man ways. Along the way, he posters and bluffs and threatens to sue and claims "actionable" and other words he must've learned watching Judge Judy. When/if that doesn't work, he-- 2. Begins The Big Lie. In the case of Gpal (a payment transaction service similar to Paypal), he claimed banks "lied to him" about agreements and contracts. Then he claimed "technical glitches" in his system and software. Then he claimed utility problems prohibited angry customers (victims) from reaching an actual Gpal "officer" or "staffer" via the telephone. Make no doubt. The Ben Cannon you have here, registered as "artherd" is the same Ben Cannon who boasts all over the internet about being a pilot, being the CEO of "Cannon Enterprises" and being on the board of directors for half a dozen different groups, businesses, etc--when in reality that number is zilch. In fact, one of the organizations he claims to be a board member of doesn't even exist. This is a slick guy until you peel the layers back. Then, just like a rotten onion, it begins stinking and making your eyes water.
TexasFlyer, It appears your data is tight. A quick review of Artherd's historical posts indicates he is a fun-loving fan of cars, guns, and planes. In quite a few posts, he comes off as a nice guy or a guy with a good sense of humor. Here is a post from back in 2006 where he uploaded several pictures of himself having fun. Don't know if he still has the pony tail or not. Probably not, if he's telling people he's a commercial ATP pilot working in the industry. http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?p=135627987&highlight=picture#post135627987
is there a stringent selection process to become a moderator? such as, must know everything under the sun?
Wow I am gobsmacked, I think/thought art was a stand up guy? if this is true then I just dont know what to say, as he ever asked a member here for money? or to invest in something?
