NEAM was located at a small regional airport but at the time was itself a tiny museum. The closure of the airport ensured that NEAM became homeless and I believe that they shut for a few weeks while they re-located to a field outside of the airfield. Nissan UK moved onto the airport and the process of building the factory obliterated the site.
NEAM survived but have never had the funding or support in order to fully utilise the site, bearing in mind that they were a SMALL concern at that time. It has taken the best part of 25 years for them to gain support in sufficient quantity to expand further. NEAM is centrally located btween Sunerland and Newcastle and has a large catchment area.
Logistically, getting new exhibits into an off-airport site becomes harder – you can’t get anything flown in!
Elvington manage perfectly well with a disused airfield, and only the running aircraft woul be affected if the runway was to vanish. YAM is approximately 5 miles from York city centre.
Cosford is another example – its a nightmare to reach on public transport, and about 15 miles from Wolverhampton (30ish from Birmingham). The airfield there is only used by the air cadets, a gliding club, and the LTF during the week.
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