South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum

South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum
	Location within South Yorkshire
Location	Doncaster, South Yorkshire
Coordinates	53°30′51″N1°06′33″W / 53.5142°N 1.1093°W
Type	Aviation museum
Website	www.southyorkshireaircraftmuseum.org.uk

Last updated November 07, 2024

The South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum (SYAM) is a Volunteer led museum located at Lakeside in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. It occupies the former site of the Royal Air Force Station, RAF Doncaster. The museum occupies the last remaining original buildings from RAF Doncaster in the shape of a Bellman hangar, two wooden Air Ministry 'Billet Huts' (Buildings 19 and 21) and various smaller structures. The museum has also erected an more modern ex Air Training Corps Cadet Hut alongside Building 21 to house its World War Two Collection.

The museum is also home to the Yorkshire Helicopter Preservation Group (YHPG)^[1] which relocated from the Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington, near York in July 2002. The YHPG display their collection of helicopters among the other SYAM exhibits and have an on-site workshop for continued restoration of their aircraft.

Aircraft on display

The South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum has a wide range of aircraft on display from the earliest days of aviation, through to modern military fast jets. There is also a large collection of civil aircraft and gliders. The museum is also home to the largest permanent display^[2] remembering and honouring the men and women who fought during the Falklands War, with a collection of aircraft on display having been flown during that conflict, or representative of their type. The museum also preserves a large collection of aircraft with links to the local area, many having flown from local airfields such as RAF Finningley, Doncaster Sheffield Airport and Doncaster Airfield (the former RAF Doncaster).

Many of the exhibits have been painstakingly restored by volunteers, notably the Avro Vulcan B.2 XL388 cockpit section, Bristol Sycamore HR.14 XE317, Gloster Meteor T.7 WA667 and Cessna 150 G-AVAA.

Aircraft with local links

These aircraft listed below are significant to the aviation history of the Doncaster Area having flown from local airfields.

BAE Systems Hawk T.1 XX238. Flown from RAF Finningley with No. 6 Flying Training School between 1993 and the closure of the base in 1996.
Blériot XI Replica. Built in 2009 to commemorate the centenary of the 1909 Doncaster Aviation Meeting, the first to be held in England. The replica depicts the aircraft flown by Léon Delagrange.
2003 Cayley Flyer Replica. Built by BAE Systems at Brough and sponsored by Virgin Atlantic, the replica was flown by Sir Richard Branson at Brompton Dale, Scarborough to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the flight of Sir George Cayley's original light in 2003.
De Havilland Dove G-ARUM/G-DDCD. Used by the National Coal Board as an Executive Transport aircraft and regularly flown into Doncaster Airfield.
Handley Page Jetstream XX495. Flown from RAF Finningley. The aircraft was donated to the museum by Bedford College in 2018.
Hawker Siddeley HS.125 Dominie T.1 XS735. Flown from RAF Finningley.
Piper PA-23 Apache G-APMY. United Steel Transport aircraft, Regularly flown into Scunthorpe Steelworks.
Vickers Varsity WJ903 (cockpit section). Flown from RAF Finningley.
Taylorcraft Auster AOP.1 LB314. Flown from RAF Firbeck (The museum's original site) during the Second World War. This aircraft was transported by museum volunteers from Denmark in 2018 and is now on display in Building 21, where it retains its Danish civil registration marks OY-DSZ.
Grumman American AA-1B G-BCLW. Flown from RAF Finningley by one of the flying schools, G-BCLW was written off in 2013 after the propeller contacted the nose wheel spat during a heavy landing and its insurers assessed the damage as uneconomical to repair. G-BCLW was first based at Doncaster Airfield, the museum's current site.

Falklands Collection

The aircraft listed below have links to the Falklands War and are on display at the South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum.

Westland Wessex HU.5 XS481. XS481 was transported to the south Atlantic onboard the Astronomer as an attrition replacement for the Wessexes lost during the sinking of the Atlantic Conveyor . XS481 arrived at the Falkland Islands after the Argentine surrender and saw no action during the war, however it was used in the immediate aftermath .
Westland Gazelle AH.1 XX411 of 3 Commando Brigade Air Squadron, was shot down on the first day of the British landings by small arms fire off Port San Carlos and Pilot Sergeant Evans was killed.^[3] The airframe was recovered on 20 October 1982 and returned to Middle Wallop for potential repair but was assessed as a structural loss.^[4]
Aermacchi MB-339 4-A-116. One of three Argentinian MB-339s captured by British forces during the Falklands War and the only one returned to the UK. Displayed at the Fleet Air Arm Museum for a short period before being used by Rolls-Royce and painted in a white scheme. Recently returned to its original Argentinian markings.
Bell Huey UH-1H Iroquois AE-406. Flown by the Aviacion de Ejercito Argentino EA (Argentinian Army Aviation) and captured by British forces during the Falklands War.
Westland Scout AH.1 XV139. Flown during the Falklands War by 656 Squadron AAC, XV139 was operating at Port Harriet House on 9 June 1982 when Argentine troops launched a Blowpipe missile, which missed it by less than 25 yards.^[5]
Westland Sea King HAS.6 XV677. Transported to the Falkland Islands on board Queen Elizabeth 2 (XV677 was the second helicopter to land on deck after modifications were completed). Arrived at Port San Carlos on 2 June 1982. XV677 flew in the Falklands with 825 Naval Air Squadron as a Sea King HAS.2. Subsequent modifications and upgrades after the War brought the aircraft up to the HAS.6 standard. XV677 was also the first Sea King helicopter to enter preservation in the UK when it arrived at the South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum in July 2006.
FMA IA-58 Pucara A-533. Arriving to Goose Green on 15th May 1982 as a replacement for the Pucará's lost during the SAS Raid on Pebble Island, A-533 was captured by British forces at Stanley Racecourse at the end of the war. Returned to the UK for evaluation and given the UK Military serial number of ZD486. The aircraft was scrapped in the 1990's, with the cockpit section being preserved for display. A-533 arrived at the South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum for display in September 2024.

Related Research Articles

RAF Mount Pleasant is a Royal Air Force station in the British Overseas Territory of the Falkland Islands. The airfield goes by the motto of "Defend the right" and is part of the British Forces South Atlantic Islands (BFSAI). Home to between 1,000 and 2,000 British military personnel, it is about 33 miles (53 km) southwest of Stanley, the capital of the Falklands, on the island of East Falkland. The world's longest corridor, 2,600 feet (800 m) long, links the barracks, messes, and recreational and welfare areas of the station, and was nicknamed the "Death Star Corridor" by personnel due to its drab and foreboding ambience, before it was re-designed, re-painted, and re-named "Millennium Corridor".

The Westland Whirlwind helicopter was a British licence-built version of the U.S. Sikorsky S-55/H-19 Chickasaw. It primarily served with the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm in anti-submarine and search and rescue roles. It was also exported to other countries, and the Whirlwind was succeeded by the turbine powered Westland Wessex which was developed from the H-19/Whirlwind. The helicopter was made in many variants using a variety of radial (piston) and turbine engines.

The Westland Wessex is a British-built turbine-powered development of the Sikorsky H-34. It was developed and produced under licence by Westland Aircraft. One of the main changes from Sikorsky's H-34 was the replacement of the piston-engine powerplant with a turboshaft engine. Early models were powered by a single Napier Gazelle engine, while later builds used a pair of de Havilland Gnome engines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">No. 32 Squadron RAF</span> Royal Air Force flying squadron

No. 32 Squadron Royal Air Force, also written XXXII Squadron Royal Air Force, sometimes abbreviated as No. 32 (TR) Squadron of the Royal Air Force (RAF). No.32 is a current flying squadron which operates in the VIP and general air transport roles. It is based at RAF Northolt in Greater London, England.

Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome and Proving Ground is a privately owned former airport near the village of Bruntingthorpe, Leicestershire 11 miles (18 km) to the south of Leicester. It was opened as RAF Bruntingthorpe in 1942.

Royal Air Force Finningley or RAF Finningley was a Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force station at Finningley, in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The station straddled the historic county boundaries of both Nottinghamshire and the West Riding of Yorkshire.

The FMA IA 58 Pucará is an Argentine ground-attack and counter-insurgency (COIN) aircraft manufactured by the Fábrica Militar de Aviones. It is a low-wing twin-turboprop all-metal monoplane with retractable landing gear, capable of operating from unprepared strips when operationally required. The type saw action during the Falklands War and the Sri Lankan Civil War.

RAF Andover is a former Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force station in England, 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Andover, Hampshire. As well as RFC and RAF units, units of the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps, Royal Canadian Air Force, United States Army Air Forces, and the Air Transport Auxiliary were also stationed at the airfield.

Newark Air Museum is an air museum located on a former Royal Air Force station at Winthorpe, near Newark-on-Trent in Nottinghamshire, England. The museum contains a variety of aircraft.

The Westland WS-51 Dragonfly helicopter was built by Westland Aircraft and was an Anglicised licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-51.

White Waltham Airfield is an operational general aviation aerodrome located at White Waltham, 2 nautical miles southwest of Maidenhead, in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England.

The Fleet Air Arm Museum is devoted to the history of British naval aviation. It has an extensive collection of military and civilian aircraft, aero engines, models of aircraft and Royal Navy ships, and paintings and drawings related to naval aviation. It is located on RNAS Yeovilton airfield, and the museum has viewing areas where visitors can watch military aircraft take off and land. At the entrance to the museum are anchors from HMS Ark Royal and HMS Eagle, fleet carriers which served the Royal Navy until the 1970s. It is located 7 miles (11 km) north of Yeovil, and 40 miles (64 km) south of Bristol.

The North East Land, Sea and Air Museums (NELSAM), formerly the North East Aircraft Museum, is a volunteer-run aviation museum situated on the site of the former RAF Usworth/Sunderland Airport, between Washington and Sunderland, in Tyne and Wear, England. The museum has the largest aviation collection between Yorkshire and Scotland and houses over 30 aircraft and a wide collection of aero engines. The museum also has a small collection of other items such as weaponry, vehicles and other historical exhibits.

The raid on Pebble Island was a raid by British Special Forces on Pebble Island's airfield during the Falklands War, and took place on the night of 14–15 May 1982. Pebble Island is one of the smaller Falkland Islands, lying north of West Falkland. The site was being used as a forward operating base for T-34 Mentor and Pucara aircraft by the Argentine Air Force; British Special Air Service (SAS) operatives were tasked with destroying the aircraft on the ground, in an operation that echoed back to some of the unit's first missions during the North African Campaign of World War II. SAS elements, then embarked on HMS Hermes, were tasked with eliminating the airfield, with naval support from the Type 22 frigate HMS Broadsword as Hermes defensive escort and the County-class destroyer HMS Glamorgan to provide naval gunfire support with its Mark 6 4.5 inch guns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Falkands War order of battle: British air forces</span>

This is a list of the units, aircraft and casualties of the British air services in the Falklands War. The numbers in bold are the number of aircraft used in the war, the numbers in brackets are the number of lost aircraft. For a list of air forces from Argentina, see Argentine air forces in the Falklands War.

The Tangmere Military Aviation Museum is a museum located on the former site of RAF Tangmere, West Sussex. The museum was opened in June 1982. Many aerospace exhibits covering the First World War to the Cold War are on display including fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and aircraft engines.

Royal Air Force Doncaster or more simply RAF Doncaster, also referred to as Doncaster Aerodrome, is a former Royal Air Force satellite station near Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England.

The Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum is a museum collection of aircraft and aviation-related artefacts, located near the former RAF Bungay airfield in Flixton in the north of the English county of Suffolk.

Caernarfon Airworld Aviation Museum is an air museum located on the former Royal Air Force station at Llandwrog, near Caernarfon in North Wales.

David Henry Spencer Morgan is a former British Royal Navy and Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot who flew on attachment to the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm during the Falklands War in 1982 where he became the most successful British fighter pilot of the conflict and was also involved in the last dogfight by British fighter pilots in which enemy aircraft were destroyed.

References

Notes

↑ "YHPG Yorkshire Helicopter Preservation Group | Restore and Preserve" . Retrieved 17 March 2021.
↑ "11 Weeks in 1982". South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum. 17 March 2021. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
↑ "British Aircraft lost – Falklands War 1982". www.naval-history.net. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
↑ Clarke, Peter. "Aerospatiale SA.341B Gazelle AH1, XX411 / WA1359, Aeroventure-South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum". abpic.co.uk. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
↑ Falklands: The Air War. Weidenfeld Military. 1986. ISBN 0853688427.

Bibliography

Ellis, Ken (2010). Wrecks & Relics 22nd Edition. Crécy Publishing. ISBN 978-0-85979-150-2.

External links

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[1] "YHPG Yorkshire Helicopter Preservation Group | Restore and Preserve" . Retrieved 17 March 2021.

[2] "11 Weeks in 1982". South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum. 17 March 2021. Retrieved 17 March 2021.

[3] "British Aircraft lost – Falklands War 1982". www.naval-history.net. Retrieved 26 June 2021.

[4] Clarke, Peter. "Aerospatiale SA.341B Gazelle AH1, XX411 / WA1359, Aeroventure-South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum". abpic.co.uk. Retrieved 26 June 2021.

[5] Falklands: The Air War. Weidenfeld Military. 1986. ISBN 0853688427.

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