Dylan Day at the Depot cuts

Dylan admires his own E-2 Hawkeye with Lt. Rey Ross, a NAVAIR Depot North Island test pilot. Photo by Joe Feliciano

Wearing the nylon flight jacket that Depot officers gave him, Dylan listens to PR3 Rachel Stokes at the Test Line Ready Room explain the gear that aviators are required to wear during flight. Behind them are Dylan’s mother and sister, Carolyn and Ericka, and Lt. Tiffany Lord, a NAVAIR Depot North Island test pilot. Photo by Joe Feliciano

Dylan sits at the controls of an S-3 Viking flight simulator. Photo by Joe Feliciano

Dylan admires the controls his F/A-18 for a day with Shawn Delaware, F/A-18 program manager, left, and Billy Garlejo, an aircraft mechanic crew leader. Photo by Scott Janes

Child has his Make-A-Wish fulfilled

By Bill Bartkus
NAVAIR Depot North Island

CORONADO, Calif. – For 11-year-old Dylan Gruschow, seeing various types of Navy aircraft in San Diego and “flying” one of them was a wish come true. The fifth-grader from Lima, N.Y., who lost his lower right leg to bone cancer, had his wish fulfilled through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Terry Moran, Depot tour coordinator made arrangements.

Dylan recently spent a day at NAVAIR Depot North Island, where he and his parents and his 14-year-old sister received the red carpet treatment. Their tour also included lunch in the enlisted dining hall hosted by Capt. David Landon, North Island Naval Air Station commanding officer, and “flying” an S-3 Viking in the flight simulator.

“Once the doctor confirmed that Dylan was eligible for a wish, and after we received a confirmation visit from a social worker with the foundation, it took Dylan eight months to decide what he wanted to do,” said Dylan’s mother, Carolyn.

“Dylan has always been interested in aviation, and he couldn’t make up his mind,” said Ronald Gruschow about his son. “He has had 20 chemotherapy treatments, and we hope that the cancer will not recur.”

Dylan wears a prosthesis and walks with the aid of a crutch. “At times, he uses a wheelchair since he tires easily,” said his father, who owns a 3,000-acre farm.

During his daylong tour, Dylan sat in various aircraft such as the F/A-18 Hornet, an E-2 Hawkeye, and a CH-53 helicopter, all with his name stenciled on the side. He also spoke with artisans who build components for various aircraft that the Depot services. At the Test Line, he saw the equipment that aviators don before entering the cockpit.
In the galley, Landon’s mess hall staff prepared Dylan’s favorite foods: pizza, chicken nuggets and steak. Mess management specialists even made Dylan his own cake.

At Sea Control Squadron 41, his father carried him up the ladder and placed him in the pilot’s seat of the S-3 Viking flight simulator. With a naval aviator as co-pilot, Dylan made several passes over the naval air station before flying out to a carrier and successfully making several traps.

“Everything is just so cool,” Dylan said. “This has been an exciting day,” as he looked at all his gifts he received along each stop of his whirlwind tour: a nylon flight jacket, a flight suit, his own “employee of the month” jacket, six ball caps, two plaques, six T-shirts, pictures, posters, a pen, models of a F/A-18 and a helicopter, and commanding officers’ coins.
He will have fond memories of Dylan Day at the Depot and having his wish fulfilled.

NAVAIR provides advanced warfare technology through the efforts of a seamless, integrated, worldwide network of aviation technology experts. From professional training to carrier launch and recovery; from sensor data to precision targeting and real-time communications; from aircraft and weapons development to successful deployment and sustainment; NAVAIR provides dominant combat effects and matchless capabilities to the American warfighter.