MINIATURE-PLANE CLUB SPARKS KIDS' IMAGINATION.

Byline: RICK COCA Valley News Writer

With materials to make rubber band-powered miniature airplanes in hand, it would seem Ralph Gee and his son Dave stand little chance of impressing a room full of computer- and technology-savvy children.

But the Gees have learned in the numerous seminars and presentations they've done all around the San Fernando Valley that there is something inherently satisfying about taking pieces of wood, putting them together and watching these new creations soar through the air.

In the Gees' presentation, which they've also done at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, they bring out a fleet of their balsa and Japanese tissue-paper crafts, which include biplanes, a helicopter and a ``ornithopter'' that flies by flapping its wings. These lightweight and delicate creations can take off from a table top -- or on top of a child's head -- and often bump ceilings during flight.

``The kids that we have classes for, they come in and, quite frankly, it's just wild enthusiasm,'' said Ralph, 82, of Burbank. ``They've never seen anything like that before. It's just thrilling to observe. They've got questions and they're thoroughly excited to participate.''

Ralph always had an affinity for aviation. In World War II, he was an aerial photographer in the Air Force and flew on reconnaissance missions over Germany.

Ralph grew up in Idaho and Utah. He got his first model airplane kits as a child during the Great Depression.

``Kids (growing up in the 1930s) didn't have a lot of things to distract them like they do now,'' Ralph said. ``Things you did with your hands were much more popular.''

Ralph has passed on his love of designing and flying miniature planes to his son Dave of Burbank. Dave, 45, in turn, has passed it on to his son, Jeffrey.

Dave is the current president of the Black Sheep Squadron Model Airplane Club. He organizes the presentations he and his father do, which sometimes include other club members. He will often add an educational element to the Gees' model presentations, offering students lessons in aviation's history as they learn how to build their own miniature planes.

Although miniature-plane building isn't as popular a pastime as computer games or golf, Dave knows a future mini-plane hobbyist when he sees one.

``We'll be at a booth or a show, and there'll be a couple of kids who don't leave, a couple of grown-ups who can't pull themselves away, and those are the ones we want,'' Dave Gee said.

The Black Sheep Squadron meets at 7:15 p.m. the first Wednesday of the month at 710 N. California St., in the log cabin, at Verdugo Park in Burbank. For information, go to www.blacksheepsquadron.com. The ``Old Farts Flying Club,'' a black-sheep affiliate, meets at 9 a.m. every Wednesday at Stonehurst Recreation Center in Sun Valley, 9901 Dronfield Ave. Beginners are welcome. For information, e-mail offcinfo(at)cs.com.