His first job was designing test equipment for valves for use in radio and television for EMI Electronics, whom he joined in 1930 at Hayes, Middlesex.
[3] He is listed in patents for electric servomotor systems and for control of automatic machine tools when he worked at EMI.
Three years later, on the 22 April 1939, he was the first glider pilot to soar across the English Channel in a Slingsby Gull after having taken off from Dunstable starting at 14:55 with a very low winch launch (300 feet).
[5] The location and altitude of his starting point meant that he had to soar over a long distance to gain enough height to make the crossing.
He crossed the French coast at 2,600 ft and landed in a small field by the village of Le Wast, 10 miles East of Boulogne, at 1735 hours, flying 204 km in 2hr 40min.