lifetime due of $1000 for full-time members or $15 month-to-month for the many seasonal visitors who use the facility. The club today The Coachella Valley Radio Control Club as a 501(c)(3) organization works closely with the area's school districts via its "Delta Dart" program which teaches young children the basics of flight as well as the basis of model construction. Delta Darts, provided by the Academy of Model Aeronautics, are rubber band-powered free flight models made of balsa and are built over full-sized plans in the same manner as a larger model plane. A friendly competition is held to see whose Delta Dart will fly the farthest. Younger children can participate in the construction of "catapult gliders." These are made of sheet balsa stock and are more easily assembled. These are launched in much the same way as firing a slingshot, i.e., by attaching the nose of the glider to a rubber band on a wooden handle, pulling back and letting go. At the high school level, the club works with each school's ROTC program to promote careers in aviation and aeronautics and works closely with students who have demonstrated an interest in same. "Fun Flys" are held throughout the year, generally one Sunday per month; guests with no previous radio controlled flight experience can actually fly a large, easy to see and very stable model via a buddy box at that time. At least one Fun Fly near the end of the year is held as a fundraiser for Toys for Tots. As mentioned in the opening paragraph, the Coachella Valley Radio Control Club is also the site of the "Best In The West Jet Rally," a national meeting of model jet turbine enthusiasts which in turn receives national press coverage in Model Aviation, the monthly publication of the AMA. One of the most notable participants in the 2008 event was Colonel Robert E. Thacker, USAF (Ret.) who entered his F-15, capable of speeds up to . A extension was added to the north end of the runway and a extension added to the south end in January 2009 to better accommodate the "Best in the West" event. The January 2009 running of the "Best in the West" would see national sponsorship for the first time. Sponsors included model manufacturers E-flite, Cermark and Century Jet Models along with modeling adhesives manufacturer Bob Smith Industries. Detailed coverage of the event