Latest local news, weather and high school sports from the Midlands

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- A South Carolina foundation has found a buyer for a World War II bomber it doesn't have the money to protect.

The State newspaper reported Tuesday the new South Carolina Historic Aviation Foundation is paying $15,000 to buy the B-25C Mitchell bomber from the Celebrate Freedom Foundation.

The plane was pulled from Lake Greenwood in the 1980s and has been stored in Columbia since 1992.

South Carolina Historic Aviation is looking for members and donors to stabilize and restore the aircraft. Gary Byrd of Irmo says nearly 1,700 of the bombers were built and there are only seven in existence.

Byrd says it would take $1 million to get the plane back in the air. Otherwise, he says it could be a very good museum exhibit.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)