Frank McClean

by Philip Jarrett

  Frank McClean

  Frank

  McClean

  Godfather to British

  Naval Aviation

  Philip Jarrett

  Seaforth

  PUBLISHING

  TITLE PAGE CAPTION

  Frank McClean’s Short S.40 moored on the Thames, with the Houses of Parliament providing an imposing backdrop, following his dramatic flight up the river on 10 August 1912. This study epitomises McClean’s persistent determination to make the government and the British public aware of the fast-growing capabilities of the aeroplane, and of Britain’s aviation industry, in the early years of the twentieth century. The advertisement for the Daily Mail on the side of an omnibus on Westminster Bridge is ironic, as that newspaper had promoted the intended flight up the Thames of French aviator Lieutenant de Vaisseau de Conneau, who had to call off his attempt after a mishap in France. (ROYAL AERO CLUB)

  Copyright © Philip Jarrett 2011

  First published in Great Britain in 2011 by Seaforth Publishing,

  Pen & Sword Books Ltd,

  47 Church Street,

  Barnsley S70 2AS

  www.seaforthpublishing.com

  British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

  A catalogue record for this book is available from the British

  Library

  ISBN 978 1 84832 109 0

  Published in association with the Fleet Air Arm Museum

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing of both the copyright owner and the above publisher.

  The right of Philip Jarrett to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  Typeset and designed by Neil Sayer

  Printed and bound in China

  Contents

  Introduction

  1 A Pioneer’s Origins; First Flight

  2 1909: The Struggle to Fly

  3 1910: An Accomplished Pilot

  4 1911: Teaching the Navy and Army to Fly; Multiple-engine Aeroplanes

  5 1912: Waterwings

  6 1913: Successful Negotiations; Unsuccessful Aeroplanes

  7 1914: The Nile Expedition and the Last Peacetime Flights

  8 McClean’s Post-flying Activities

  Appendix: Frank McClean’s Aeroplanes, 1909–1914

  Bibliography

  Index

  Introduction

  Mention the name Frank McClean to most aviation historians and you might spot a glimmer of recognition, or perhaps something a little more positive from students of British naval aviation’s early days. His role in instigating and facilitating the training of the first Royal Navy aviators is readily acknowledged, but few are aware of his many additional achievements.

  It would be easy to number him dismissively among the moneyed flyers of the pioneer years who bought aeroplanes and flew them for their own sport or pleasure, but Frank McClean invested his vast inherited wealth in Britain’s national security, and also became heavily involved in aviation safety and in promoting aviation through membership of several Royal Aero Club committees. Nor was he afraid to take an active role, though he seldom sought the limelight unless something or someone urged him into action for a cause. After first becoming an aeronaut and then teaching himself to fly, McClean became the Short brothers’ voluntary unpaid test pilot for several years. Seeking greater safety, he pioneered the concept of multi-engined aeroplanes, paid for them to be built, tested them, and then made them freely available to naval aviators.

  Although a few of his more public exploits drew attention to him, such as the aerial photography experiment over the sunken Oceana, the flight up the Thames to Westminster, and the painfully protracted expedition flight along the Nile, much of his work was carried out quietly, away from the glare of publicity, which he generally shunned. The aeronautical press of the pioneer years often commented on his desire for privacy and lack of response when it sought information. He was happiest when he was flying at Eastchurch, well away from crowded public venues such as Hendon and Brooklands, and this meant that reports of his activities were sparse. He seldom wrote anything for publication at the time, and wrote only two brief accounts of his early flying days subsequently, and they were not widely broadcast. When he did put pen to paper he was dryly witty, and never afraid to have a joke at his own expense. All who knew him held him in reverence, valued his friendship and were impressed by his modesty and even temper.

  Although he had no dependants at that time, McClean usually declined to take part in competitions and races. Ironically, when he entered for the round-Britain seaplane race of 1913 his Short S.68 proved a troublesome non-starter. Unlike many other aviators he did not need prize money to finance his flying, and there can be little doubt that the deaths of his close friends the Hon. Charles Rolls and Cecil Grace heightened his awareness of the increased risks entailed in flying competitively. These tragedies did not deter him from flying, but merely led to his becoming involved in accident investigation and in seeking ways to make flying safer. His part in subsequent investigations into the fatal accidents that befell other fellow flyers, such as H J D Astley and S F Cowdery (‘Colonel Cody’), contributed to the effort to pinpoint causes and prevent recurrences.

  In some ways McClean’s modesty worked against him. When he was awarded a later pilot’s licence than he clearly merited, owing to his absence when the first British licences were allocated, he made little of it at the time, being more concerned with progress than vain protestation. When his pioneering achievements were belatedly recognised with a knighthood, the honour was bestowed so late that many of his fellow pioneers had passed on before and were conspicuously missing from the celebrations. And, like other pioneers who lived to a good age, he was unknown to many of those who read his obituaries.

  But Frank McClean was never one to complain. He was a big man with broad shoulders, and philosophically accepted whatever befell him. He was most active in the early years of the twentieth century, not only ballooning and flying but making long expeditions to remote Pacific islands in attempts to witness eclipses. He evidently enjoyed life, and enjoyed sharing its pleasures (as the ladies he frequently treated to flights were doubtless aware).

  Although McClean was never one to sing his own praises, he merits wider recognition for his significant contributions to British aviation in the pioneering era. Without him, the Royal Navy would not have got into the air as early as it did, and it would certainly not have been as prepared as it was when the First World War broke out. Without his patronage and support the Short brothers’ young company would have struggled to survive in the difficult prewar years. Without him, and others of his ilk, lackadaisical and short-sighted politicians and military leaders might never have perceived the vitally important role that aviation would play in future international conflicts.

  I was given the impetus to write this book by Grahame Mottram of the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) Museum, who gave me access to the McClean material donated to the museum by Sir Rupert Carington, and Michael Oakey of Aeroplane Monthly magazine. Although McClean was known to me, in the throes of researching his involvement in the pioneer years of British aviation my eyes were opened. The extent of his commitment, and his farsighted generosity, were truly extraordinary but had gone largely unrecognised. Even many histories of British naval aviation make only a passing reference to his part in its birth.

  This account concentrates on Sir Francis Kennedy McClean’s life as a pioneer aeronaut and aviator in the exciting pre-First World War years. This was by far the most active a
nd significant period of his life, and, as the record shows, a time of intense and constant involvement in the fast-developing new science of aviation, and in its applications. While his contributions to astronomy, both as an investigator and a benefactor, and his activities during and after the First World War were also noteworthy, it was in the flying world of Edwardian England that Sir Frank made his mark, so his subsequent achievements are summarised in the concluding chapter, in which significant episodes and events are spotlighted.

  As a private owner, Frank McClean purchased an extraordinary number of aeroplanes between 1909 and 1914, and these, plus some that were ordered but either unbuilt or uncompleted, are listed in an appendix, with brief histories. This is the first complete listing of what must have been one of the biggest fleets of privately-owned aeroplanes in the world at that time, though they did not all co-exist, of course.

  One difficulty I encountered was the question of how to address my subject in the text. In the pioneer era he was Francis McClean in the popular press, but to his friends and often in the aeronautical press he was Frank McClean. It would certainly be wrong to address him as Sir Frank when writing of his work during this period. After he was knighted in 1926 he tended to be referred to formally as ‘Sir Frank’ rather than ‘Sir Francis’, but, as many later quotations in this volume show, he bore the accolade lightly and his friends and acquaintances still called him Frank, which was evidently what he himself preferred.

  Another minor problem was the spelling of Egyptian place names. The important thing is that the phonetics are correct, the sound of the Arabic name, but in the throes of research one encounters alternative spellings that are equally effective in conveying those sounds, such as Assouan and Aswan, or Wadi and Wady. I have generally adopted those forms currently in use.

  Acknowledgements

  This account would have been much the poorer (and less accurate) without the valuable contributions of friends and fellow researchers. First and foremost among these is Gordon Bruce, who unselfishly shared information gathered by him on early Short aircraft in his researches in various archives, including notes he made from the Shorts order book during his time as Secretary at Short Brothers Limited and during his own researches into the aviation activities of the Hon. C S Rolls. In addition, Gordon patiently responded to my deluge of queries over several years, and clarified many points during our lengthy correspondence. This process also unearthed many errors and inaccuracies in previous accounts of Short’s formative years, particularly concerning the company’s first aeroplanes. Some questions may now never be fully resolved, and we have only vague mental impressions of some of the aeroplanes, such as McClean’s enigmatic Short No 3 and the S.46 ‘Double-Dirty’, but hopefully their known histories have been set straight.

  Others who made welcome contributions or provided helpful assistance were the staff of the FAA Museum, especially Grahame Mottram, Moira Gittos and Catherine Cooper; Peter Elliott and the staff of the RAF Museum archives; the staff of Aeroplane Monthly magazine, and particularly Michael Oakey (who also provided some Egyptian expertise), Tanya Caffrey and Amanda Stroud; Andrew Dawrant, a trustee of the Royal Aero Club Trust; the staff of the Cheshire Archives and Local Studies in the Cheshire Record Office; James Rait for his researches into the flying experiences of the Hon. Maurice Egerton; Eric Harlin; the staff of the County Library Headquarters of Cardiff Central Library; Jack Woods for material relating to Sir Frank’s lineage and ancestors; Barry Gray, and Mark Wagner of Aviation Images, for photographic work; G Stuart Leslie, David Browning and, very especially, my wife Marilyn for her patience and forbearance.

  I am also grateful to Murdo Morrison, the present editor of Flight International; Chris Male, editor of The Aeronautical Journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society; and Andrew Dawrant of the Royal Aero Club Trust (the RAeC published the Royal Aero Club Gazette) for permission to use extracts from their respective (and much respected) publications.

  Philip Jarrett

  February 2011

  CHAPTER 1

  A Pioneer’s Origins; First Flight

  In 1955, shortly after the death of Sir Francis Kennedy McClean at the age of 80, his old friend and fellow aviation pioneer Lieutenant-Colonel Alec Ogilvie wrote: ‘He was a wealthy man for those days and he was prepared to spend his money freely in getting to the bottom of things which interested him and in which he could see benefit to the country.’ This tribute really understates the massive contribution that McClean made to British aviation, because he played so many parts. As well as being an aeronaut and a pioneer pilot, he ensured the initial success of Short Brothers as an aeroplane manufacturer, served as the company’s first test pilot, and, in the words of that great naval aviator, Air Commodore Charles Rumney Samson, his generosity ‘started the Navy flying’.

  The reader will have gathered already that McClean must have been a rich man. Born on 1 February 1876, he was educated at Charterhouse, Clifton College and the Royal School of Mines, and then spent three years training as a civil engineer at the Royal Indian Engineering College, Coopers Hill, London. Then, aged 22, he went to India in 1898 and served in the Public Works Dept of the Bombay Presidency, India, for three and a half years, returning to England in 1902 with the intention of joining the family business and pursuing a career in engineering. In 1902 McClean became a director of the Cannock Chase Colliery Company, a post he retained until the company was nationalised in 1948, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and a member of the Royal Institution. In 1904 he became a member of the board of Powell Duffryn Associated Collieries, and remained so until 1948. Upon his father’s death in 1904 he retired, aged only 28, considerable independent means enabling him to pursue his personal interest in astronomy. To learn how those means were accumulated it is necessary to go back two generations.

  Frank McClean, in a white shirt and wielding a hammer; samples the labours of a collier in the Wheal Grenville Mine. (FLEET AIR ARM MUSEUM)

  Francis K McClean’s grandfather, John Robinson McClean, was born in 1813 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was the third son of Belfast merchant Francis McClean and his wife Margaret. After attending Tillicoultry School, Clackmannanshire, he continued his education at Belfast Royal Academical Institution. In 1834 he went to Glasgow University, where he gained high honours in mathematics and natural philosophy. At the same time he undertook practical studies in mining, engineering and surveying, with the aim of qualifying as a civil engineer. John married Anna Newson in 1837 and that same year a son, Frank, was born.

  Adrian Long, J R McClean’s biographer, says:

  He was a remarkable man, with great vision, who lived an extraordinarily active business life much of it spent on projects in Staffordshire embracing railway engineering, water supply and coal mining. His achievements in and around the Brownhills area have been considered to be equal to those of Isambard Kingdom Brunei and Thomas Telford.

  It is impossible to list all of J R McClean’s accomplishments here, but especially worthy of mention are his improvement of the Birmingham Canal and his work on the Tame Valley Canal, England’s last main canal; and surveying and contract work on the Thames embankment and Belfast Docks, all done during a seven-year pupillage with Walker and Burgess of Westminster, London. After becoming an independent civil engineer in 1844 he was appointed engineer to the Furness Railway Company, and two years later he became engineer to the South Staffordshire Junction Railway (SSJR), opened in April 1849. He then leased this railway, this being the first recorded leasing of a railway to an individual. When it was taken over by the London and North Western Railway in 1861 McClean received a payment of £110,000 in compensation for the unexpired part of the lease. He compensated members of the staff with up to two weeks’ pay following the change of ownership.

  In 1854 J R McClean and R C Chawner, chairman of the SSJR, were awarded the lease for the Hammer which and Uxbridge collieries from the second Marquis of Anglesey, and built a branch railway to the pits. The pits were
eventually purchased by their newly formed Cannock Chase Colliery Company, and its first steam locomotive was named McClean. Formally inaugurated in 1859, the company eventually owned ten pits and a brickyard. The collieries were a major source of McClean’s wealth, and as well as building a church at Chasetown he had boys’ and girls’ schools built and maintained there, plus an institute containing a library and leisure facilities, shops and other services, including a doctor. This benevolence attracted some of the area’s best miners to the town.

  McClean’s other West Midland enterprises included the Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Dudley Railway and the West Bromwich, Wednesbury and Bilston Railway. He was also involved with Cardiff’s East Bute Docks, Newport’s Alexandra Docks, the Ryde Pier Company and the Eastbourne Water and Sewage Works (presaging F K McClean’s Eastbourne connections decades later), new docks at Barrow in Furness, the Devonshire Dock, and the Buccleugh. He was instrumental in establishing fresh water supplies into the Black Country, and in 1849 submitted a scheme for the supply of fresh water to London and the draining of the Metropolis that was adjudged the best and most practical scheme submitted.

  In 1851 J R McClean was instructed by Emperor Napoleon III to report on the practicality of introducing the English system of public baths and washhouses in Paris, and in 1855 the Viceroy of Egypt invited him to join an international commission to consider the practicality of building a ship canal linking the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, later made reality as the Suez Canal. He was also consulting engineer for the La Coruna, Santiago de Compostela, Vigo and Orense railway system in Galicia, north-west Spain, and for the system in Moldavia, east of the Carpathians in north-east Romania. In addition McClean was engineer to the Lemberg-Czernowitz Austrian Railway and the South Eastern Railway of Portugal.