South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum, Lakeside, Doncaster.

Date of visits: March 2022, June 2024.
The South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum (SYAM) located at Lakeside in Doncaster on the site of the former RAF Doncaster is an aviation museum dedicated to preserving and displaying the aviation history of South Yorkshire and the U.K. The museum which is run by a dedicated team of volunteers became a Registered Museum in 2003 and attained Accredited Museum status in 2010.

Doncaster has a rich aviation history. In October 1909 the local racecourse hosted the first air race meeting in Britain. One aircraft that dominated the event was the Gnome‑engined Blèriot XI monoplane piloted by the French aviator Lèon Delagrange, who on the final day of the races broke the world speed record. A replica of his aircraft is exhibited at the museum. In 1916 during the First World War, Doncaster airfield was opened near the racecourse and became home to the Royal Flying Corps 15(R) Squadron flying Avro 504's. The airfield closed after the war but opened again in May 1934 for civilian use as Doncaster Airport. In November 1938, No. 616 (South Yorkshire) Squadron of the Auxiliary Air Force formed at RAF Doncaster and during the Second World War was an active fighter squadron. After the war RAF Doncaster reverted to civilian use until its final closure in 1992. After the closure of the airfield, the area was developed into an industrial, leisure and retail complex, including a large lake.

The origins of the South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum (SYAM) date back to 1973 with the formation of the South Yorkshire Aviation Society (SYAS). In 1976 the SYAS established a small display of aviation artefacts at Nostell Priory near Wakefield, called the Nostell Aviation Museum. In 1981 the SYAS moved to the site of the former RAF Firbeck and it was here that it changed its name from SYAS to SYAM to more accurately represent the growing collection and displays of the society as a museum. The museum eventually moved to the four‑acre site it now occupies on the former RAF Doncaster, opening to the public in August 1999.

Bellman hangar
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SYAM occupies some of the original buildings of the former RAF airfield, such as the wartime Bellman hangar and two wartime wooden Air Ministry ‘Billet Huts’ (Buildings 19 and 21). The museum is also home to the Yorkshire Helicopter Preservation Group (YHPG) which moved to the site in 2002 from the Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington, near York.

The museum has an abundance of cockpit sections and a diverse collection of aircraft, helicopters and aviation related artefacts which have connections with the aviation heritage of the area and some of the museums many displays, such as the Falklands War display entitled ‘Eleven Weeks in 1982’.

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Main Hangar Exhibits

Meteor T.7 (WA662(
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