Talk:Nick Piantanida

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Marriage date and Janice McDowell's middle name.[edit]

In the past 24 hours, someone changed Piantanida's marriage year to 1962, but the Life Magazine article and Ryan's book "The Pre-Astronauts" both indicate that Piantanida was married in 1963, (the Life article even gives the date as March 16, 1963). If other published sources say 1962, please bring them to our attention. Also, I've deleted Janice McDowell's middle name because in the past few days two different names have been used (Lynn and Louise), but without reference to a published source. If a verifiable published source is known, please insert a middle name and citation. --212.139.244.241 (talk) 16:51, 24 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

If you have personal knowledge of the subject, we'd be interested to know more and would be interested in helping to find published sources and citations for the correct information. --212.139.244.241 (talk) 17:09, 24 October 2012 (UTC) Janice middle name is Louise she is my sister, her middle name is from our Aunt Louise 63.148.110.6 (talk) 03:07, 27 August 2018 (UTC)Nancy McDowell Bonk[reply]

Recommend removing Baumgartner reference from first paragraph[edit]

I recommend moving reference to Baumgartner flight to a footnote. For several reasons. First, this article is about Nick Piantanida, not about flight records. Second, the FAI absolute altitude record set in 1961 for balloon flight was not broken by either the Piantanida nor the Baumgartner flight. It requires that the balloonist descend to earth with the balloon and is still held by Malcolm Ross. In the case of Piantanida, the balloon was jettisoned at altitude to begin an emergency ascent, and in the case of Baumgartner, he abandoned the balloon at altitude to begin his record breaking drop. Catrachos (talk) 05:40, 31 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]

True, but Piantanida and Baumgartner both achieved unofficial records. Gildir (talk) 17:58, 31 December 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I did a lot of work on this article back in the autumn. I crafted the phrase "flying a manned balloon higher than anyone before" in order to avoid the whole issue of 'official' vs. 'unofficial' vs. FAI record - I don't think it's important so long as it's not called an 'official' record. It was the highest manned balloon flight at the time, it was recorded, widely reported and undisputed. It happened.

I have wondered about the reference to Baumgartner in the lead paragraph for some time though (but never felt so strongly as to remove it). By way of comparison, I see that the opening of the article about Mark Spitz notes his record haul of Olympic medals was surpassed by Michael Phelps at the 2008 Summer Games, but I also see that the article on Eric Heiden does not mention who broke his 1980 world record in the 10,000 meter speed skating event. I guess a case could be made either way.

One reason for referencing Baumgartner's flight up front, as currently written to include the date of Baumgartner's flight, is that it sheds light on the longevity of Piantanida's record - more than 46 years - a longevity that testifies to Piantanida's achievement. 212.139.244.178 (talk) 00:58, 10 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Cause of death[edit]

I've removed "lack of oxygen" as cause of death in the data box. Although he did suffer a lack of oxygen at the time of the accident, which doctors thought would probably leave him brain damaged, Pianatida lived for months afterwards and was said to be breathing well the week after the accident. --Blake the bookbinder (talk) 10:14, 8 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Contract With Knicks[edit]

I understand that Piantanida was once offered a contract with the New York Knicks to play professional basketball. Does anyone have a source, and if so, is that fact worth adding? 70.174.128.14 (talk) 05:30, 11 September 2015 (UTC)[reply]