PLUM CITY — Michael Merritt, a physical education teacher in the Plum City School District, got his pilot’s license to open the year and put it to good use, taking a pair of teachers and a third grade student on a flight over Plum City, Elmwood and more of western Wisconsin’s natural beauty.

“I’m an adrenaline junky,” Merritt said. “I enjoy having the sense of adventure, I’m kind of a thrill seeker. I’ve been skydiving for 10 years as a hobby. I’ve got almost 300 skydives and I love flying in airplanes. About a year ago I said ‘Well why not just learn how to fly airplanes myself.’”

Merritt first took a discovery flight with an instructor in which the instructor takes off and lands, but Merritt got the opportunity to take control while the plane was in the air. During the flight he instantly fell in love. To get the license, Merritt said there was no shortage of work including a written test, pilot physical, flight tests and landing practice.

“A lot of studying,” Merritt said. “A lot, a lot of studying and just kind of understanding all of the knowledge that goes behind being a pilot.”

A minimum of 40 flying hours is required, which Merritt said is usually around 70 for aspiring pilots and that is the range he landed in as well.

Merritt said the landings are what take the most practice as a lot of hand, foot and eye coordination goes into it. By the time he received his license, he had completed about 150 landings.

After receiving his pilot license, Merritt wanted to take some of his district coworkers for a flight. He asked Administrative Assistant Carissa Christiansen and Director of Technology John Pimental, who were both ecstatic to go. Christiansen’s third grade daughter Ella also had the opportunity to join the crew, marking her first flight ever.

The flight started in Menomonie and flew over the Elmwood area before touching down at Red Wing. On the return to Menomonie, the crew flew over Plum City to get an overhead look at their community.

“One of the staff members that I went with, we flew right over the top of her house and we could see her husband and their two sons, and we could see them waving at us,” Merritt said.

Merritt has his private pilot license, but there are more boxes he would like to check. Next, Merritt is eyeing an Instrument Rating, which would allow him to fly on days where the weather may not be perfect or on a cloudy day. This would cause the need to rely on the instruments of the plane, hence the name.

“If this is something that anybody is interested in, it is absolutely incredible; it is a wonderful thing to do, but there is a lot, a lot of studying and just like book knowledge that goes into it,” Merritt said. “You have to work hard for it and you have to put a lot of time and a lot of effort into it.”