John Findlater
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John Findlater (19 May 1926 – 28 March 2013) was a leading
Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists ...
,
aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...
expert and air crash investigator who worked with the British
Meteorological Office The Met Office, until November 2000 officially the Meteorological Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather and climate service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and ...
from 1945 until his retirement in 1989. He received numerous awards for his scientific research and public service, including the LG Groves Memorial Prizehttp://opencharities.org/charities/255471 (which he won twice) and the
Imperial Service Medal The Imperial Service Medal is a medal affiliated with the Imperial Service Order. The medal was established under the statutes of the Imperial Service Order, on 8 August 1902, by King Edward VII, with the first awards appearing in the ''London G ...
.


Early life

Findlater was born in
Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...
, Scotland, in May 1926, the son of a railway superintendent. He moved to
Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...
at a young age, and was educated at
Inverness Royal Academy Inverness Royal Academy is a comprehensive secondary school in the city of Inverness in the Highland area of Scotland. A former grammar school with a history dating back to the 13th century, the academy became a comprehensive in the mid-1970s ...
, where he developed a fascination with aircraft.


Second World War

During the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Findlater served in the RAF, working aboard weather-monitoring ships in the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
. Later in the war, he survived a violent plane crash in a
Bristol Blenheim The Bristol Blenheim is a British light bomber designed and built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, which was used extensively in the first two years of the Second World War, with examples still being used as trainers until the end of the war. ...
light bomber A light bomber is a relatively small and fast type of military bomber aircraft that was primarily employed before the 1950s. Such aircraft would typically not carry more than one ton of ordnance. The earliest light bombers were intended to dr ...
at an Inverness airfield, being the only crewperson to escape without serious injury. While in the RAF, Findlater became highly knowledgeable about aircraft and
aeronautical engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...
, and worked as a consultant and researcher with the RAF numerous times in his later career.


Met Office work and retirement

After the war, Findlater joined the
Met Office The Met Office, until November 2000 officially the Meteorological Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather and climate service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and ...
, beginning his career as a teacher of meteorology in
Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...
,
Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
. While in Kenya, he began studying the
monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...
winds that develop around the
Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...
, conducting hundreds of research flights over the
Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
to gather data. During this period, he discovered a previously unknown wind system that blows diagonally across the Indian Ocean parallel to the
Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...
n coast; the phenomenon was named the Findlater jet in his honour. Findlater furthermore received the LG Groves Memorial Prize for his research. He then returned to the United Kingdom, where he served as a Principal Scientific Officer and air crash investigator for the Met Office. In 1987, two years before his retirement from the Met Office, Findlater investigated the haar, or coastal fog, that affected operations at RAF bases in Scotland. He received a second LG Groves Memorial Prize for this work. Findlater retired from the Met Office in 1989, receiving the
Imperial Service Medal The Imperial Service Medal is a medal affiliated with the Imperial Service Order. The medal was established under the statutes of the Imperial Service Order, on 8 August 1902, by King Edward VII, with the first awards appearing in the ''London G ...
for his distinguished service. He continued to offer expert advice on aviation policy in his later years, advocating for the conservation of aircraft such as the
Hawker Siddeley Nimrod The Hawker Siddeley Nimrod is a retired maritime patrol aircraft developed and operated by the United Kingdom. It was an extensive modification of the de Havilland Comet, the world's first operational jet airliner. It was originally designed ...
maritime patrol Maritime patrol or maritime reconnaissance is the task of monitoring areas of water. Generally conducted by military and law enforcement agencies, maritime patrol is usually aimed at identifying human activities. Maritime patrol refers to active ...
jet. He died in March 2013 at the age of 86.


Personal life

Findlater was survived by his wife, Mary, and daughter, Fiona. He was a proficient glider pilot, at one point working as a glider
flight instructor A flight instructor is a person who teaches others to operate aircraft. Specific privileges granted to holders of a flight instructor qualification vary from country to country, but very generally, a flight instructor serves to enhance or evaluate ...
at Lasham Airfield in
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Findlater, John 1926 births 2013 deaths People educated at Inverness Royal Academy Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Scottish meteorologists People from Motherwell