page_title: Ann Welch
section_title: Early life
hierarchical_section_title: Ann Welch / Early life
caption_attribution_description: Svenska: Ann Welch
context_page_description: Ann Courtenay Welch OBE, née Edmonds, was a pilot who received the Gold Air Medal from Fédération Aéronautique Internationale for her contributions to the development of four air sports - gliding, hang gliding, paragliding and microlight flying.
context_section_description: She was the daughter of a railway engineer and was born in London. As a child, Ann Edmonds kept a diary listing every aeroplane that flew over the house. She first flew with Alan Cobham in 1930.  After she had acquired a motorbike to visit the local aerodrome, she learned to fly, earning her pilot's licence in 1934 one month after her seventeenth birthday. From an early age she excelled in drawing and painting, and was a painter of note.
caption: Potrait of Ann Welch
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