The Angus scientist known as the “father of radar” is among a host of Scots to be celebrated at Heathrow Airport.
A “tartan takeover”, from the runway to the restaurants, has been launched at the London airport ahead of St Andrew’s Day on Monday.
Modern airports are made possible by a collective of Scottish innovators such as radar pioneer Robert Watson-Watt of Brechin, John McAdam of Tarmac fame, telephone inventor Alexander Graham-Bell and the creator of television John Logie-Baird.
The main runway has been renamed the John McAdam Runway as some 378,000 square metres of his invention has been used across the airport’s two runways and the interiors are now adorned in a commissioned tartan by Jilli Blackwood, who designed the Scotland team outfits for last year’s Commonwealth Games.
Visit Scotland chairman Mike Cantley welcomed the week-long tribute, saying: “Home to ground-breaking scientists, philosophers, engineers and architects for hundreds of years, Scotland’s creative and scientific minds continue to shape the modern world we live in today.”
Heathrow ‘s strategy director Emma Gilthorpe said some could argue that the airport was “made in Scotland”.
She said: “From John Loudon McAdam, to Preston Watson and Alexander Graham Bell, Scotland is the birthplace of many revolutionary inventions and it’s these revolutionary inventions which make Heathrow the UK’s hub airport that it is today.”