Eighty years ago, it echoed to the thunder of huge, four-engined bomber aircraft, then at the cutting edge of aviation technology.

Now, Old Buckenham Airfield, could increasingly reverberate to the whirr of electric engines as it bids for a place at the forefront of the latest revolution in flight.

The aviation centre at the airfield, near Attleborough, has submitted an application to Breckland Council to install new charging points for electric aircraft.

It is part of an ongoing scheme to make the south Norfolk site a hub of more environmentally-friendly forms of aviation.

The base is the home of the Nuncats project, which is developing technology to allow aircraft to be powered by solar and wind energy for use in developing parts of the world.

Last year, the airfield became home to the UK's first electric aircraft charging point, as well as the first in Europe to be powered entirely from solar energy.

That charging point was used to power the world’s first electric aircraft display at the aerodrome’s July 2022 airshow.

The new planning application represents a significant enlargement of the original scheme.

In addition to the five new chargers, the aviation centre wants to continue using a two-storey office unit and install a new “standalone” office unit.

The centre said the two-storey unit “has proven essential, especially with the activities embarked upon since 2016 in the field of electric flight”.

Tim Bridge, the founder of Nuncats, who lives in Norfolk, said last year that he had started work on the electric planes to help isolated communities around the world.

%image(14451325, type="article-full", alt="Tim and Helen Bridge with the Zenith CH750 or "electric sky Jeep"")

“Globally, more than two billion people living in rural communities don’t have access to basic healthcare,” he said.

"Opportunities for education or employment are also limited because communities lack critical transport infrastructure.

"Our electric sky Jeep would be a lifeline to these communities. Nuncats was set up as a mission-led community interest company to deliver exactly this."

Matt Wilkins, the airfield’s aerodrome manager, said at the time: "It’s a great source of pride that the airfield has encompassed the heroic B-24 bomber crews of the Second World War, all the way through to a new era of environmentally-friendly flight.

"We are particularly delighted the aircraft developed and created here will help save lives in underdeveloped parts of the world.”

The council is due to issue a decision on the scheme by October 25.


NEW VISION FOR OLD BUCKENHAM

The airfield was built at the height of the Second World War as a base for American bombers involved in the air offensive against Germany.

B-24 Liberators few missions over occupied Europe from its runways, with many never returning.

%image(14830220, type="article-full", alt="Jimmy Stewart, Operations Officer with the 453rd Bombardment Group, pictured with colleagues at Old Buckenham Airfield,")

James "Jimmy" Stewart, the Hollywood movie star, was group operations officer at Old Buckenham during the spring of 1944.

His fellow actor Walter Matthau was also based at Old Buckenham.

After the war, it became a station for RAF maintenance units, before closing in 1960.

Much of the site returned to agriculture, although part of became a civilian airfield, which is now at the forefront of the electric aviation revolution.