Well, Paul Allen is not in the habit of starting out to restore something and then not carrying through with it. His track record so far is VERY good at making his restorations airworthy. So I have an idea it will fly one day again. I could be wrong there.
On the plus side, we probably have the money now to make a few things happen. I am not on the board of the Museum, but the Zero will be finished and then we will start on the YP-59A and most likely have the money for the flight test program now. So, the Betty made a difference ... assuming things go the way they are supposed to go. I can't say at this point, but have no reason to think we won't get both the Zero and the YP-59A flying in 2016.
I'd trade the Betty for that outcome, but I am also on the YP-59A team, so I'm a bit biased on that score maybe. I suppose we'll see about this time next year when the outcomes are known. Since we've been working on the YP-59A since 1992, the wait is small by comparison with restoration work under the bridge to date. We probably have 50,000+ volunteer man-hours in it at this point. That may well equate to many less man-hours from a team of experienced A&Ps, but we all still want to see some air under the wheels caused by the engines we have been looking after for 20+ years.
When I say, "we," I mean the Planes of Fame volunteers, not just Greg. There are a LOT of guys with more work in it than I have given. I've only been on it for 9 years and can't wait for the first post-restoration flight. It won't get flown a lot anyway because of cost. Flying the YP-59A at an airshow is like flying six F-86s at the same show. the fuel flow on these early turbines is rather ... spectacular. You can cruise an F-86 at 600 pounds per hour (about 100 gph). The Bell YP-59A, at airshow altitudes, will burn 575 gallons per hour! That's about 3,450 pounds per hour!