 It was during this time that he made the acquaintance of Murray Sueter, Ronald Kemp and Oscar Gnosspelius, all of whom would figure later in his work at Shorts.In 1916 he joined the Prodger-Isaacs Syndicate of freelance test pilots, working for several British aircraft manufacturers.His first assignment with Shorts began on 17 October 1916, when he was asked by Horace Short to test fly a batch of six Short Bombers from the Eastchurch airfield.