Pilot For a Day: Kirby Balinski

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Terri Paden
  • 15th Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii --  When local teenager Kirby Balinski saw his childhood dream of becoming a military pilot undercut by a sudden medical diagnosis, members of the 15th Operations Group at JBPHH stepped in to make his dream come true.

After being diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in October 2013, Kirby was offered the opportunity to "make a wish" by Make-A-Wish Hawaii.

His wish to be a pilot was granted in three parts. He and his family were sent to Magic Mountain and Universal Studios in California in order for Kirby to experience the feeling of moving through the air at top speed. He was then given the opportunity to "fly" a glider plane, and lastly, the MAW foundation partnered with the 15th Wing to give Kirby the ultimate Pilot For a Day experience.

The Pilot For a Day program was created for children who have serious or chronic health conditions. The 15th WG's program invites children of all ages to be guests of one of its flying squadrons for an entire day. The day is planned to give each child, and also the child's family, a break from the challenges they may face.

"I've seen three or four of these Pilot For a Day experiences and for me being able to walk them through a day in our shoes and see the smiles on their faces and their family's faces is priceless," said Capt. Rush Taylor, 535th Airlift Squadron pilot and Kirby's Pilot For a Day mentor. "It's easy to connect to these kids because they want to do something I wanted to do myself 15 years ago and being able to help them realize that dream even a little bit is important to me. Kirby and I come from different backgrounds and different situations but we both had the same dream."

For a flying enthusiast such as Kirby, whose passion to fly was born watching World War II pilots on the History Channel, the day turned out to be just what the doctor ordered to lift his spirits and renew his commitment to achieving his goal to fly.

The day began for Kirby with an introduction to his host flying unit, the 535th AS, where he was given his flightsuit, name tag and tour of the squadron. Kirby and his family were then given the full Pilot For a Day experience including C-17 Globemaster III and loadmaster simulator tours and flights and the opportunity to operate the virtual reality parachute trainer at the 15th Operations Support Squadron Aircrew Flight Equipment section.

Additionally, Kirby was given a chance to try on night vision goggles, fitted for a flight helmet and oxygen mask, strapped into a parachute and given a tour of C-17 static aircraft.

According to Kirby, the entire experience left him somewhat overwhelmed but more determined than ever to realize his dream of becoming a pilot.

"I learned a lot today," he said. "There's a lot I'm going to have to learn to become a pilot and it seems much harder to do than I thought but I'm still going to try to do it."

Though Kirby ranked the overall Pilot For a Day experience as one of the best experiences of his life, he said the C-17 flight simulator was his favorite part about the day.

"Flying the flight simulator gave me a chance to see what it would be like to really fly one of these aircraft," he said. "I originally wished to go to Six Flags because I thought riding roller coasters would be the closest I could get to flying and experiencing the G-force experience pilots feel, but this was awesome. I don't know how to explain it; this was the type of thing I've always wanted to do when I was younger and I finally got a taste of it. I want more."