Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Francis Kennedy McClean, AFC DL (1 February 1876 – 11 August 1955) was a British civil engineer and pioneer aviator.

[1] Sir Francis was one of the founding members of the Royal Aero Club and one of the founders of naval aviation and amateur flying.

[3] His first flying experience was in 1907 in a balloon race in Berlin, and in December 1908 he flew with Wilbur Wright in Le Mans.

[5] In February 1911, he offered to let both the Admiralty and War Office use the aircraft and airfield at Eastchurch to teach naval and military personnel to fly heavier-than-air machines.

[1] McClean was also a pioneer in aerial photography: with the help of Hugh Spottiswoode he took some acclaimed photographs of the wreck of the SS Oceana[6] just off the coast at Eastbourne.

Upon the outbreak of the First World War in August he was commissioned in the Royal Naval Air Service and carried out patrols in the English Channel before becoming chief instructor at Eastchurch.