As the tapping of military challenge coins on various tabletops echoed throughout the 4th Airlift Squadron's Heritage Room, a wide smile broke across the face of 9-year-old Evan Waara.

He'd started the traditional Air Force "coin check."

And when an Airman sitting on the other side of the room finally couldn't produce a coin, everyone broke into laughter.

"Evan is one of the guys right now," his father Carl said with a smile.

The "coin check" was just one event Evan experienced as part of a day in the life of a pilot July 7 at McChord Field as part of the Air Force Association-sponsored Pilot for a Day program. Pilot for a Day is an Air Force program that enables challenged youth a chance to visit an Air Force base, becoming part of the team in the process. The participants are selected through a partnership with a community hospital or foster program. Evan, who lives in Grayland, Wash. (about 95 miles south of McChord Field), has cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease that causes thick mucus in a person's body and makes them especially susceptible to lung infections. It also makes digestion difficult because it encases the pancreas in mucus, blocking enzymes that help break down food.

Evan routinely does 40 minutes of chest physical therapy twice a day. He straps into a machine that shakes his chest to loosen the mucus. He also has to take nearly 30 supplemental enzyme capsules a day to help him better break down food.

"For us, it's part of life," Carl said.

But the disease and all its symptoms took a backseat to the action during the visit to McChord Field.

"Our goal is to create an unforgettable day for them," said Robert Branscomb, an AFA member who's on the board that selects children to participate in the program. "They're getting to experience what very few civilians can experience."

That experience included a meet and greet with the base commander at Heritage Hill to start off the day, a demonstration by the base's explosive ordinance disposal team, another demo by the military working dog team and then a trip to parachute simulator training.

A pair of Airmen strapped Evan into a hanging parachute harness linked up to a computer simulation running an image into goggles in the helmet. Once he was all strapped in, the 9-year-old - dressed in his very own flight suit with 4th Airlift Squadron patches - pulled on the straps of the parachute, eventually guiding himself onto a waiting aircraft carrier in the middle of the ocean.

"We have a very diverse set of activities," Branscomb said.  

The highlight of the day was a trip to the C-17 Globemaster III simulator, but Evan was already flying high at lunchtime.

"I didn't even tell him all the details of what he was going to get to do," said Carl, a fourth-generation cranberry farmer in Grayland. "I wanted to surprise him totally today."

After lunch, Evan didn't even notice that it was time to go on to the next activity. He was too busy chatting with an Airman and looking at a book about the 4th's airlift accomplishments.

"I doubt we're going to be able to get that flight suit off him at the end of the day," Carl said with a laugh.