Local Tucson teen becomes November pilot for a day

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jamie L. Coggan
  • 355th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  James "Jay" Nasby, a 17-year-old Tucsonan who recently battled cancer, toured the base Nov. 14 as this month's Pilot for a Day.

The purpose of the program is to give local children with illnesses an enjoyable day completely devoted to them and their interest in aviation.

Jay had a tumor in his hip in January and has undergone chemo, radiation, and surgery to remove the tumor and the cancer is now gone. He still requires reconstructive surgery and physical therapy.

Jay brought along his father, Rich Nasby, a Helo instructor pilot in the Army National Guard in Marana, and sister, Danielle Nasby.

Jay's day began by meeting Captain Ryan "Rhino" Hill, an A-10 Fighter Pilot assigned to the 358th Fighter Squadron.

"I volunteered to be the host pilot because I think this is an outstanding program and I wanted to be a part of it," said Captain Hill. "It was great to meet Jay and his family and it is inspiring to see his courage."

Captain Hill took Jay back to his squadron where Jay put on his new flight suit, complete with a personalized name tag and squadron patches.

Next, Jay and his family listened to a briefing and checked out life support gear and looked through night vision goggles.

After finishing up at the 358th FS, Captain Hill took Jay and his family to the D-M Fire Department to meet the Airmen and see the fire trucks and then went on to see an A-10 display.

The next stop for Jay and his family was the 79th Hangar to see an HC-130 static display, where Jay got to tour the inside of the plane, and then over to the 55th Rescue Squadron where he was allowed to tour the HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter and look at all the equipment.

After they ate lunch, the group headed to the 355th Operations Support Squadron, where Jay and his family all got to experience an A-10 simulator, a system that replicates flying an aircraft over a virtual map as realistically as possible, and to the control tower for a brief tour before heading back home.


The Pilot for a Day program originated at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, in 1994 and has since been implemented at several other Air Force bases. Davis-Monthan hosted its first program participant in August 2000, and new program coordinators intend to organize and conduct one D-M visit per month.