Found some more information:
BIG FLATS - The Wings of Eagles Discovery Center is searching for more cash to keep its centerpiece attraction in the sky.
The museum has contracted with Courtesy Aircraft Sales, a Rockford, Ill.-based broker of warplanes and other aircraft, to find a sponsor for the storied B-17 bomber Fuddy Duddy - or a buyer.
It's the second time the museum has considered selling its most prized possession. The first was when the facility, then known as the National Warplane Museum, was fighting for its survival.
Now, museum officials are shopping Fuddy Duddy around because the cost of flying a World War II-vintage warbird is becoming prohibitive.
"Unfortunately, over the years the economics of the B-17 have changed significantly, starting with the $100,000 to insure the airplane before you even turn a prop," said Wings of Eagles Executive Director Mike Hall.
"The airplane burns a couple hundred gallons of fuel an hour. In some places, aviation fuel is over $6 a gallon. So without significant sponsorship, operating it ourselves is not something we can do."
Ideally, the museum will find a corporate sponsor or sponsors that will underwrite some or all of the B-17's operating expenses so the museum can make it available to people who might not otherwise be able to afford to fly in it, Hall said.
If a sponsorship deal can't be worked out, selling the craft is a possibility, he said.
Right now, Hall said, the people who can afford the $400 to ride in Fuddy Duddy are older people who already have an interest in vintage warbirds.
"Much less of the market is the next generation. So we're trying to create a situation where we might be able to serve that market educationally," he said.
"That market can't reach into their pocket and pay for the experience. A corporate name would accompany the experience. But we would also have the opportunity to put youth, in particular, on the airplane and bridge that gap over several generations."
Wings of Eagles still has a cooperative agreement with the Experimental Aircraft Association, which leases Fuddy Duddy and tours the country with it, Hall said. That arrangement is a break-even deal at best, he said.
The museum contacted Courtesy Aircraft Sales earlier this month. The "flying fortress" is now featured at the top of the company's Web page.
Courtesy Aircraft Sales was founded in 1958 as a Cessna aircraft dealer and has since expanded to include several other dealerships. The business added warbirds in the early 1970s.
The company deals with museums and collectors around the world, and prospects are good that a deal to help keep Fuddy Duddy flying can be brokered, said Courtesy Aircraft Sales President Mark Clark.
"They contracted with us to look at various options. Finding a national sponsor is one; finding someone to buy it and donate it back, or sell the airplane, are the others," Clark said. "It just depends on which one is the most viable option for the museum.
"The thrust is to have the airplane continue to tell its historical story and its inspirational story," he said. "A lot of museums have an interest in the airplane.
"It's a fantastic resource. These airplanes have touched everybody."
I found it here
http://www.star-gazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051101/NEWS01/511010301/1001
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