(31 Jan. 1896-16 May 1969), aviation expert, public figure. (Dan McLean, A. D. McLean) He is usually said to have been born at Maxville, but the location more strictly defined was west of Maxville, probably in Roxborough Township. Parents: Laughlin or Lauchlin M. McLean (1871-1943), and his wife Catherine (Cassie) McEwen (1871-1943 or 1944). A. D. McLean attended school locally, and remained in the Maxville area with his grandparents while his father was in Huntingdon County managing a chain of cheese and butter factories. The proprietor of the chain has not been determined. (Possibly, D. M. Macpherson.) In 1907, the McLean family moved to Innisfail, Alta., where Lauchlin McLean was occupied for some four years in the Alberta government’s creameries before turning to insurance and real estate. A. D. McLean trained as an aviator in the First World War, and took engineering courses after the war, and worked in his father’s business before settling down to a distinguished career in aviation.

     He was involved in the aerial mapping of the Maritimes, and in the winter of 1929 he was the pilot who made the inaugural flight for air mail between Ottawa and Saint John, N.B. Later that year, he was appointed an inspector of the Civil Aviation Branch of the Dept. of National Defence. In 1931 he was appointed acting supervisor of airways. He was active in building up air services and pioneering air routes in Western Canada. In 1941, the Civil Service Commission appointed him controller of Civil Aviation. (Glengarry News 12 Sept. 1941) During the Second World War he was active in selecting and developing airports for war purposes, and facilitating the training of airmen. He was a member of the Air Transport Board, 1950 to 1962. He headed delegations for air agreements in Melbourne and Tokyo. Retirement came in 1962. He died at his home in Ottawa. He was awarded the McKee Trophy for 1941 (award announced 30 Oct. 1942) for his services to aviation. In 1946, he was made an OBE. He was married to Marjorie Cook. (two children)

Campbell, Tannis, & Stewart, MacDougalls, 304-306 * The Canadian Who’s Who, Vol. VI:1952-1954 p. 730 * MDict 532 * Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame (Wetaskiwin, Alberta): one-page biog. outline, with portrait; also the Hall’s valuable file of newspaper clippings and other sources on McLean * Alice Gibson-Sutherland, Canada’s Aviation Pioneers: 50 Years of McKee Trophy Winners (1978) 130-137 (with portrait) * “Man of the Week: Controller of Civil Aviation,” The Standard (Montreal) 7 March 1942 (with portrait) * various local notices: made controller, awarded McKee trophy, retires from Air Transport Board, Standard Freeholder 10 Sept. 1941, Glengarry News 12 Sept. 1941, 18 Dec. 1942, 3 May 1962