What Made Roy Hallady Fly -Sports Illustrated article

I enjoy a good yarn now and then, but that article was written by a 10-year-old ... or so it felt. Actually it read more like the “author” inserted maybe 200 words into a random generator to output 5000 words in a barely cohesive format. :rolleyes:
 
I enjoy a good yarn now and then, but that article was written by a 10-year-old ... or so it felt. Actually it read more like the “author” inserted maybe 200 words into a random generator to output 5000 words in a barely cohesive format. :rolleyes:

Glad you said that, thought I was the only one who was having issues.

Was really interested in the story (his Dad restored a T-33 jet, cool!). But that writing was painful.
 
I suspect that what made Roy Hallady fly was the smorgasbord of drugs in his system. That entire wordy article is probably best summed up in one paragraph:

The last flight of his life, on November 7, 2017, lasted 17 minutes. He crashed in the Gulf of Mexico about 20 miles northwest of his home in Odessa, Fla., a suburb of Tampa. Telemetry data suggests that he was performing maneuvers you might see at an airshow: rocketing up, then shooting back down. He flew as close as 75 feet to nearby houses. Halladay was not certified in what is known as aerobatics, and he violated FAA regulations requiring a minimum distance of 500 feet from “any person, vessel, vehicle, or structure.” The toxicology report shocked the public. It did not shock his family. It revealed high levels of zolpidem—a sedative sometimes known as Ambien—amphetamines and morphine in his system. There were also traces of tobacco; hydromorphone, a narcotic often marketed as Dilaudid; and fluoxetine, an antidepressant sometimes sold under the name Prozac. The medical examiner could not determine the source of these substances or when he took them, but the FAA prohibits pilots from flying under the influence of most of them. If he had survived, he could have been prosecuted.

Sorry, but I just don't feel very sympathetic.
 
How did he pass a medical getting prescriptions for all those drugs?
 
How did he pass a medical getting prescriptions for all those drugs?
Did he have a medical? The Icon is an LSA, so no medical would have been required (unless his last application for a medical was denied).
 
Did he have a medical? The Icon is an LSA, so no medical would have been required (unless his last application for a medical was denied).


Going from my aging memory but I believe he did have a medical. He could have obtained prescriptions after the application or he could have had an SI or he could have obtained the drugs without a prescription.
 
Going from my aging memory but I believe he did have a medical. He could have obtained prescriptions after the application or he could have had an SI or he could have obtained the drugs without a prescription.
Couldn't he have just lied on the application? Does the FAA have the ability (or resources) to do prescription checks on people?
 
As to what made him fly, the lyrics of the Greatful Deads 'Casey Jones' come to mind.
 
Never heard of this guy, but it sure seems that it would have been better if this horrible piece had never been written.

If this sports "icon" was idolized by kids and baseball junkies, they didn't need to know about his mental illness and drug dependency...

More junk "journalism..."
 
Never heard of this guy, but it sure seems that it would have been better if this horrible piece had never been written.

If this sports "icon" was idolized by kids and baseball junkies, they didn't need to know about his mental illness and drug dependency...

More junk "journalism..."

If it’s the truth, no reason they shouldn’t know. An icon, role model, hero, etc. should be known to those that choose to idolize him warts and all. Being good at throwing or hitting a ball is by itself no reason anyone should be idolized.
 
If it’s the truth, no reason they shouldn’t know. An icon, role model, hero, etc. should be known to those that choose to idolize him warts and all. Being good at throwing or hitting a ball is by itself no reason anyone should be idolized.
I agree. Putting famous people on a pedestal is a popular trend. It can have unfortunate consequences.
 
I enjoy a good yarn now and then, but that article was written by a 10-year-old ... or so it felt. Actually it read more like the “author” inserted maybe 200 words into a random generator to output 5000 words in a barely cohesive format. :rolleyes:
I agree, that was a painful read. Finally had to give up on it.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
 
Never heard of this guy,

Do some of you guys never read the news, ever?

8x All Star, 2 Cy Youngs, first pitcher to ever toss a perfect game and no hitter in the same season, only the 2nd person to toss a no hitter in the post season...

Probably never heard of Nolan Ryan or Don Larsen either.
 
I similarly lacked empathy when the Fast and the Furious guy died after he wrapped himself around a tree driving not just illegally, but quite recklessly on a public road. It's tragic for sure, but in a Shakespearean sense, not in a "poor guy" sense
 
Do some of you guys never read the news, ever?

8x All Star, 2 Cy Youngs, first pitcher to ever toss a perfect game and no hitter in the same season, only the 2nd person to toss a no hitter in the post season...

Probably never heard of Nolan Ryan or Don Larsen either.

Never heard of Halladay until he ruined a perfectly good airplane and caused many folks to look askance at GA. So I have little regard for him. And I heard of him via the news so yeah, I read the news just not the sports section.

As to Ryan and Larsen, I have heard of them. They were famed players when I was young and impressionable and believed that ballplayers were special. I long ago grew out of that nonsense.
 
Do some of you guys never read the news, ever?

[deleted useless baseball stats]

Probably never heard of Nolan Ryan or Don Larsen either.

I know Nolan Ryan well. Only because he is a fellow Texan.

I read the news just about hourly during the week. Just not the sports news.
 
I similarly lacked empathy when the Fast and the Furious guy died after he wrapped himself around a tree driving not just illegally, but quite recklessly on a public road. It's tragic for sure, but in a Shakespearean sense, not in a "poor guy" sense

What's tragic is that he was the passenger...
 
You guys sound like fun at parties.
 
What's tragic is that he was the passenger...
..fair enough, but he wasn't totally innocent in that decision. It's not the same if we crash flying with a passenger who's oblivious to our recklessness. Rodas was driving his Porsche and they were at a part of the road that is quite well known in the area for drifting cars. They knew what they were doing and did so willingly. The fact that Porsche was later sued was, frankly, bananas, and ultimately the legal system worked and the ruling (in one of the cases) was in favor of Porsche, the others they settled out. Porsche said it best:

"
The perils, risk, and danger were open and obvious and known to him, and he chose to conduct himself in a manner so as to expose himself to such perils, dangers, and risks, thus assuming all the risks involved in using the vehicle
"

Tragic, like I said, in a Shakespearean sense, but not from a "poor innocent guy was just driving" .. if he had been hit by a drunk driver, or died of cancer (for example), that's tragic. Dying because you are joyriding your car with your friend is just stupid.
 
Hallady had to pass a drug screening test maybe he paid off an AME to pass him. I guess he could have used synthetic urine for the drug screening.
 
Hallady had to pass a drug screening test maybe he paid off an AME to pass him. I guess he could have used synthetic urine for the drug screening.
I thought the only urine test that AMEs did was for diabetes.
 
I similarly lacked empathy when the Fast and the Furious guy died after he wrapped himself around a tree driving not just illegally, but quite recklessly on a public road. It's tragic for sure, but in a Shakespearean sense, not in a "poor guy" sense

He was the passenger in the crash, he was not the driver.
 
He was the passenger in the crash, he was not the driver.
..fair enough, but he wasn't totally innocent in that decision. It's not the same if we crash flying with a passenger who's oblivious to our recklessness. Rodas was driving his Porsche and they were at a part of the road that is quite well known in the area for drifting cars. They knew what they were doing and did so willingly. The fact that Porsche was later sued was, frankly, bananas, and ultimately the legal system worked and the ruling (in one of the cases) was in favor of Porsche, the others they settled out. Porsche said it best:

"
The perils, risk, and danger were open and obvious and known to him, and he chose to conduct himself in a manner so as to expose himself to such perils, dangers, and risks, thus assuming all the risks involved in using the vehicle
"

Tragic, like I said, in a Shakespearean sense, but not from a "poor innocent guy was just driving" .. if he had been hit by a drunk driver, or died of cancer (for example), that's tragic. Dying because you are joyriding your car with your friend is just stupid.
 
Do some of you guys never read the news, ever?

8x All Star, 2 Cy Youngs, first pitcher to ever toss a perfect game and no hitter in the same season, only the 2nd person to toss a no hitter in the post season...

Probably never heard of Nolan Ryan or Don Larsen either.

Some of us just don’t give a damn about stick and ball sports.

But you were correct in that I don’t watch the news. No need. If I want the experience of modern “news,” I’ll peruse a copy of the Enquirer at the grocery store checkout. About the same factual content.
 
Some of us just don’t give a damn about stick and ball sports.

But you were correct in that I don’t watch the news. No need. If I want the experience of modern “news,” I’ll peruse a copy of the Enquirer at the grocery store checkout. About the same factual content.

The difference between introverts and extroverts.

It helps to know a little about a wide range of subjects even ones as "stupid" as sports so when you meet someone new you can have some sort of commonality. No need to be an expert on everything, but having a little bit of knowledge of American "crap" can help with making a connection with someone and can lead to future opportunities.

There's a lot of subjects I dont care about, but I at least pick up some knowledge on them so I dont look like an absolute tool in social or business settings. No one wants to hear me prattle on about aviation crap, or what MY interests are.

At least appearing to give a **** about other people's interests is a big thing when engaging other people.
 
I'll listen to your "aviation crap" EddieFreddie, and I'll even comment on sports but if you start talking stats and draft picks, I'll go chasing squirrels.

There's a bunch of guys at work that would be top controllers if they knew as much about their job as they knew about sports.
 
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