He was also involved in the development of aerial refuelling, serving as co-pilot and hose handler on Sir Alan Cobham's pioneering flight from Portsmouth, England, to India on 22 September 1934,[5] also inventing the electrolytic process of forming flame or explosion traps.
Helmore was promoted squadron leader on 1 October 1928 and wing commander on 1 July 1935, but retired from the RAF at his own request on 1 March 1937 to devote himself to research at Cambridge.
Baynes, nicknamed "The Baron", worked on the development of the Turbinlite, a 2,700 million candela (2.7 Gcd) searchlight fitted in the nose of Douglas Havoc night fighters.
[7] Unfortunately certain practical difficulties brought the idea to nothing, but much of his work was subsequently incorporated in the Leigh light, an anti-submarine aircraft searchlight, which with the aid of radar was particularly deadly to German U-boats.
He had earlier broadcast such events as the Schneider Trophy air races and reviews, and during the war his accounts of the RAF's work were heard frequently.