Matt Shalbrack/Winonan

Growing up, it’s every child’s dream of wanting to fly. I remember watching “Peter Pan” as a kid and thinking to myself, “If Peter Pan can fly, why can’t I?”

But for this father-son duo, taking to the skies isn’t found in a Disney movie or a science fiction film, it’s part of their daily lives.

No, they don’t fly in the air like Peter and Wendy did, they take to the sky by the use of an airplane. These two gentlemen are licensed pilots through the Federal Aviation Administration.

In the Physics 200 Fundamentals of Aviation class, Michael Ruka was able to learn about the art of flying an airplane. The class covered the exact science of how airplanes gain lift and what types of clouds were at what height in the atmosphere.

“I wanted to fly for a really long time,” Michael said. “I have a cousin who works for VIP services of American Airlines and he literally gets to go everywhere, and I just thought that was really cool.”

For Alan Ruka, the main reason for learning to fly was because of Michael.

“He knew if he got me interested in it, we’d get an airplane, Alan said. “He was chasing me around the house telling me to get the plane; he’s following me around like a puppy dog.”

“We had yet to see a more suitable plane. Not this plane is a great plane, but we hadn’t seen a better one,” Michael said.

Six months before Michael was certified and eight months before Alan was certified, they bought an airplane.
Michael’s certification took about 13.5 months and around 110 hours while it took Alan two months to complete his certification.

By purchasing an airplane, the Ruka’s were able to practice in their own airplane, giving them more familiarity in the air before their certification tests.

I was lucky enough to get a chance to fly with both of them. I had been up with Michael in the past, but not with Alan present.

There were some interesting things that I noticed during my flight with the Ruka’s.

First, they were both wearing the same black, Free Country brand jackets. Maybe there was a really great sale at Cabela’s, but it was just humorous that they were wearing the same thing.

Second, Alan told me that they both soloed within about 1/10 of an hour of each other.

He also said they have both had bird strikes (when a bird hits the plane in midair), proving the “Like father like son” slogan true.

Alan even made a joke about how their genetics were similiar because of these occurrences.

I took the Physics 200 class and learned some of the same information that Michael learned.

However, I never continued with it as he did. Flying with him and Alan was almost a refresher course in what I had already learned.

Being in the air is such a serene feeling. Seeing Winona and the surrounding Mississippi Valley region from the sky is quite the sight. Flying also helps get from place to place much quicker, which is one of the reasons why Michael loves to fly.

“It’s the ability to go anywhere,” Michael said. “I wouldn’t drive two hours to go to dinner somewhere, but I sure might fly a half hour to go to dinner somewhere.”

During our flight, we flew from Winona to La Crosse, Wis., to Rushford, Minn., and back to Winona. There’s no better way to get a view of Winona’s surrounding areas than from the sky in my opinion.

One of the main perks about flying long distances in comparison to driving long distances is the lack of traffic.

“You rarely see other traffic, but when you do it’s fairly uncommon to you,” Alan said. “But when you do, it’s like you own the airspace. When you’re in a car, you’re driving right next to people.”

If flying is something you’re interested in, sign up for the Physics 200 class. You’ll learn the basics of flying and even get to go for an airplane ride! After you take that, you’ll be on your way to soaring in the sky.

Contact Matt at [email protected]