 In 1938 , Oliphant became involved with the development of radar , then still a secret . While visiting prototype radar stations , he realised that shorter @-@ wavelength radio waves were needed urgently , especially if there was to be any chance of building a radar set small enough to fit into an aircraft . In August 1939 , he took a small group to Ventnor , on the Isle of Wight , to examine the Chain Home system first hand . He obtained a grant from the Admiralty to develop radar systems with wavelengths less than 10 centimetres ( 3 @.@ 9 in ) ; the best available at the time was 150 centimetres ( 59 in ) . 
