"Jay Honeck" writes:

Anyone know where I can find an old Cessna 140 (for example) fuselage for
cheap that I could mount on a pole out front? Or a big ol' Convair prop?
Something I could hoist up onto a 3-story sign, to catch the eye of
travelers?

Anyone got any better ideas? Whatever we do, it can't be unsafe, and it
shouldn't look too kitschy...

Cessna-on-a-stick, eh? That'll sure drag'em in off the highway. I'm
thinking the MidWest and the WestCoast have different definitions of
"kitschy."

Try something less real, more abstract and artsy. For instance, at
the Sacramento Airport, they put up some enormous colorful birds:

http://makeashorterlink.com/?L3372267A
[username: root password: password]

I'm not suggesting you go to that extent, but maybe some tastful
artwork on your existing sign or the front of your hotel. Get your
wife involved or your stained-glass artist friend. Props and wingless
fuselages appeal to 0.5% of your potential guests. Don't turn away
the other 99.5%.