Talk
about
a
father-sons
adventure!

Father
Mike
Rath,
of
Spearfish,
South
Dakota,
flew
his
Waco
Classic
biplane
into
EAA
AirVenture
Oshkosh
on
Saturday,
alongside
with
his
two
sons
flying
a
Cessna
140,
piloted
by
17-year-old
Josh.

“Just
flying
into
Oshkosh
is
so
cool!”
said
Josh,
who
is
studying
mechanical
engineering
as
a
sophomore
at
South
Dakota
School
of
Mines.

Josh
learned
how
to
fly
in
a
tailwheel
aircraft
and
finds
the
mechanical
aspect
most
exciting.
Luke,
14,
who
is
a
freshman
in
high
school,
plans
to
earn
his
private
pilot
certificate
as
soon
as
he
turns
16.
In
South
Dakota,
you
can
earn
your
driver’s
license
at
14,
which
for
Josh
and
Luke
means
that’s
when
they
can
start
flying.

 Flying
has
been
a
passion
of
the
two
brothers
from
a
young
age.
Josh
now
craves
a
challenge
and
has
begun
to
recently
seek
them
as
he
is
starting
to
fly
a
biplane.
He
enjoys
pushing
himself
to
constant
perfection,
he
said.

Mike
has
been
a
major
influence
in
his
sons’
lives
due
to
his
background
flying
multiple
full-sized
and
remote-controlled
airplanes.
“[Dad]
just
loves
it,
and
it
rubs
off
on
us
so
fast,”
said
Josh.

Although
the
flight
would
be
seven
hours
in
total,
they
decided
to
break
the
journey
into
two
days.
On
Friday,
the
three
Raths
flew
to
their
grandparents’
house
to
spend
the
night
in
northern
South
Dakota.
At
4
a.m.
Saturday,
they
took
off
and
quickly
were
faced
with
a
challenge.
At
4,000
feet
above
sea
level
in
South
Dakota,
the
air
density
is
significantly
thinner,
which
creates
a
difficult
environment
to
take
off.

 Josh
said,
“With
another
person
aboard
and
a
full
cockpit,
the
plane
was
heavy.”
But
they
safely
overcame
it,
and
the
last
leg
to
Oshkosh
was
underway.

Josh
said
he
plans
to
make
aviation
a
part
of
his
life
and
hopes
to
earn
an
internship
at
Garmin
and
eventually
a
master’s
in
aeronautical
science.
Luke
is
focused
on
continuing
to
practice
his
flying
skills,
earn
his
pilot’s
certificate,
and
ultimately
dreams
to
fly
as
a
captain
for
FedEx.

The
brothers
also
enjoy
flying
to
their
family’s
ranch
in
Montana.
Luke
said,
“What’s
cool
about
going
there
is
the
amount
of
space
there
is
for
us
to
land
the
airplane.”

Josh
and
Luke
are
most
excited
to
see

Scrappy,
the
competition-winning
STOL
aircraft,
the
new
RV-15,
and
all
the
air
shows
during
the
week.