Anne Burns facts for kids

Anne Burns (born November 23, 1915 – died January 22, 2001) was an amazing British engineer and glider pilot. She worked for almost 40 years at the Royal Aircraft Establishment. There, she became an expert in how different air movements affect planes. As a glider pilot, she set a British record for flying the highest. She was also the first woman to fly a glider across the English Channel!

Early Life and Education

Anne Pellew was born in Haworth, a town in Yorkshire, England. She went to The Abbey School in Reading. Later, she studied at St Hugh's College, Oxford, which is part of Oxford University.

Anne was only the second woman ever to study Engineering Sciences at Oxford. She was also the first woman to receive a special scholarship called the Edgell Shepee Scholarship. She graduated in 1936 with top honors. Anne was also a talented athlete. She played hockey for the university team and squash.

Working at RAE Farnborough

After university, Anne did research with Professor Richard Southwell. When World War II started, she wanted to be a pilot. However, her engineering skills were needed more. In 1940, she joined the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) at Farnborough, Hampshire. This was a very important place for aircraft research.

Helping Aircraft During Wartime

During the war, Anne worked on problems like "flutter," which is when parts of an aircraft vibrate too much. She also measured the forces on aircraft during flight. She even helped develop windscreen wipers for bombers! These wipers, along with double windscreens that had warm air inside, helped pilots see better. Anne flew in many military planes for testing, from small Tiger Moths to powerful Hawker Typhoons and Gloster Meteors.

Investigating Plane Crashes

In the late 1940s, Anne was the first person in the UK to use special sensors called "strain gauges" on an aircraft during flight. These sensors measure how much a material stretches or compresses.

In 1954, she helped investigate crashes of the early de Havilland Comet jet airliners. These planes broke apart while flying very high. Anne bravely flew in unpressurized Comets, sometimes as high as 40,000 feet, to understand what was happening. She once said, "We flew about waiting for the windows to blow out."

For her courage and important work on this investigation, Anne received the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air in 1955. She also won the R. P. Alston Medal from the Royal Aeronautical Society in 1958.

Studying Air Turbulence

Anne became an expert on "clear-air turbulence." This is bumpy air caused by different wind speeds at different heights, often near fast-moving air currents called "jet streams." She even flew in a small plane called a Fournier RF 4 to study this.

In 1963, she received another Queen's Commendation. This was for her flights in an English Electric Canberra plane, where she researched air gusts at both low and high altitudes. Some of these flights took place in very hot conditions in Libya.

In 1966, the Royal Aeronautical Society gave her its Silver Medal for her work in aeronautics. In 1968, she received the Whitney Straight Award for her contributions to aviation research and flying. Anne retired from the RAE in 1976. By then, she had spent 1,500 hours flying as an observer. She met her husband, Denis Burns, at the RAE, and they married in 1947.

Gliding Achievements

Anne Burns started gliding as a sport in 1954, even though she had flown military gliders during the war. She quickly won awards and set many records.

Setting Records

• On her very first long-distance glider flight, she flew from Lasham, Hampshire, to RAF Ternhill, Shropshire, in less than five hours. This broke the British women's distance record.
• In December 1956, she set new British records for highest altitude and gain-of-height. She flew a Slingsby Skylark glider to 11,890 feet (about 3,624 meters).
• In 1957, flying the same type of glider, she became the first woman to cross the English Channel in a glider.
• In 1960, she received the Jean Lennox Bird Trophy for breaking all existing British women's glider records in 1959.
• By 1961, Anne held 10 out of 11 UK women's gliding records! This included the altitude record of 10,550 meters (about 34,613 feet).

A Shocking Flight

While breaking the altitude record in South Africa, Anne flew into a large storm cloud called a cumulonimbus cloud. As she climbed higher, she felt electric shocks from parts of the glider. At about 34,000 feet, lightning struck the glider's left wing! A small panel was blown off. Anne was shocked but quickly recovered and decided to get out of the cloud and land safely.

More Awards and a Close Call

In 1962, Anne and her husband Denis were jointly awarded the Britannia Trophy for their gliding achievements. In 1963, she set a women's world record for speed over a 500 km course, flying at 103.33 km/h. In 1966, she became the British Gliding Champion, the first woman to ever hold this title. She also received the Lilienthal Gliding Medal from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, a very prestigious award in gliding.

In 1977, Anne had a scary moment when her glider was hit by a bird and damaged. She had to parachute out of the plane. She got tangled in the parachute lines but landed safely in a sycamore tree, only injuring her ankle. At 62 years old, she became the oldest person to join the "Caterpillar Club," a special group for people whose lives were saved by a parachute made by Irvin's. After this, she stopped gliding and took up fly fishing and snooker, winning awards in those sports too!

Anne Burns passed away on January 22, 2001.