In 1937, he designed a system for an undercarriage that could cope with cross winds, in which the main wheels could be set to a steering angle away from straight ahead, so that an aircraft could be landed safely in a "crabbing" attitude.
After the war he helped to develop anti-skid (ABS) brakes (Maxaret) for the aircraft division of Dunlop in Coventry.
The former test pilot and designer of the Supermarine Spitfire undercarriage was inspired when his daughter visited from Moscow with his first grandchild (Anne Hambledon, born in 1962).
[6] He designed his first buggy in 1964, which was built in his medieval farmhouse stables in Barby, Northamptonshire in England just south of Rugby.
Today the modern version of the 'Baby Buggy' are sold in over 50 countries under the Maclaren brand based in Long Buckby.
His eldest brother Bruce (who also attended the University of Cambridge) married the granddaughter of Charles George Arbuthnot, and also the niece of General Sir Alexander Cobbe VC.