Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Francis Kennedy McClean, (1 February 1876 – 11 August 1955) was a British civil engineer and pioneer aviator.
Sir Francis was one of the founding members of the Royal Aero Club and one of the founders of naval aviation and amateur flying.
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Early life
McClean was born on 1 February 1876, the son of astronomer Frank McClean, and was educated at Charterhouse before the Royal Indian Engineering College at Cooper's Hill. His grandfather John Robinson McClean, also a civil engineer, came from Belfast. McClean worked as a civil engineer in the Indian Public Works Department from 1898 to 1902 when he left to focus on aviation matters.
Interest in astronomy
Through his father's influence, McClean was an enthusiastic amateur astronomer and especially interested in solar eclipses. He was a volunteer assistant on the 30 August 1905 solar eclipse expedition to Palma, Majorca. McClean organized 2 astronomical expeditions: one to Flint Island for the 3 January 1908 solar eclipse and the other to Port Davey for the 9 May 1910 solar eclipse; however, bad weather thwarted observations in both expeditions. He also accompanied the expedition organized by Sir Norman Lockyer to Vava'u for the 28 April 1911 solar eclipse. McClean made generous gifts to the Lockyer Observatory.